Play Me Part IV
by TheBlackDove4
Summary: Since making special arrangements for the duration of the musical, Edward and Bella are becoming happier and closer. Could this be a sign of things to come? BxE All-Human
1. Iron Scaffold

I would admit that I was concerned about today. Edward had shared some pretty deep stuff with me the other night and I didn't know how he would feel today. So I remained calm as I heard him walking behind me on my way to drama. I went inside and waited for Miss Kay to finish speaking to Mr. Banner so that I could ask her where we'd be for the class period. Edward didn't wait. He walked up right behind her and started massaging her shoulders. _Suck up…_

"Miss Kay," I heard him ask lowly, "could I borrow Bella for the class period?"

They both looked at me.

"Sure! We're just gonna watch a movie and relax today. You can have her."

Edward walked up to me.

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"Nope."

"Okay, just leave your stuff in here and follow me."

I did as I was told and followed him. He led me out to the stage where an enormous iron scaffold stood just inches from the edge of the stage. It was as high us as the ceiling, which was the point of the whole thing.

"So what did you _really_ think of that movie the other night?" he asked me.

"I don't know. It was okay, I guess. I've seen scarier."

"I thought so, too. Jane didn't get as scared as I'd hoped."

"Aw. Too bad," I said.

"Okay," he said, "what we're gonna do is lay this piece of plywood across the top of the scaffold and then we'll be able to reach the main speakers." He pointed to a huge piece of plywood lying on the floor.

I nodded.

"Okay," he said, climbing about halfway up, "lift up the plywood and I'll grab the top of it."

I did that and walked it up to Edward's hand. He grabbed it and I proceeded to push so that he could get a better grip. But, being Bella, I was looking up instead of down and didn't see where I was going. And several things happened at once. I took a nose dive off the stage and into the first row of seats, my right knee clipping the edge of the stage on my way down. Edward dropped the plywood when I fell and I toppled into the seats and bounced onto the floor. I laid there on my back for a second, trying to comprehend what had just happened. I was a little disoriented, but I knew the basics: my name, where I was, who was with me, etc.

"Oh my God, Bella, are you okay?!"

I looked up at Edward, who was still on the scaffold. "Yeah," I said, laughing and getting up. I looked at my finger, which had a splinter from the stupid plywood. And my knee throbbed.

"Okay, good. I wanted to make sure you were okay before I started laughing," he chuckled.

I laughed with him until Mr. Banner came onstage.

"Mr. Banner, we need to install a guardrail on the edge of the stage," Edward told him.

"Why?"

"She just fell off." He stifled another laugh.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," I laughed.

"I would assume so, since you're laughing." He turned to Edward. "What are you two trying to do?"

"Get the plywood up here."

"Well, I think this may be more than just a two-man job. I'll get a few of the boys out here."

I waited with Edward as Mr. Banner recruited the boys. Then all at once, Eric and Emmett came from one side of the stage and Alice and Rosalie crossed over from the other. They carried bags of chips with them. They looked up at the scaffold and watched the boys work.

"Hey," they greeted simultaneously. "You look a little pained."

"I kinda just fell off the stage," I said quietly.

"You know," Rosalie said, "if Edward pushed you off, you can let us know. It's not good for you to protect him."

"No, retard. Edward didn't push me. And he wouldn't. Besides, he's not really into the whole domestic violence thing."

"Yeah, I know," she beamed.

I started picking at the splinter in my finger.

"Bella, are you okay?"

I looked up to see Edward looking down at me from the top of the scaffold, concern written all over his face.

"Oh, yeah. Just a splinter from the plywood. That's all."

Edward nodded and went back to work.

Alice nudged me and started whispering. "Bella, what's going on here?"

"Well, Alice," I said, looking up, "it looks like they're trying to fix the main speakers-"

"Bella, you know what I'm talking about. When Rose and I got here, your bags were in the classroom, but you were nowhere to be found. The _warning_ bell hadn't even rung yet. Have you been back here the whole time?"

"Alice, chill. Class hasn't even been going on for twenty minutes yet."

"That's beside the point. What happened the other night with you and Edward? You didn't tell me yesterday."

"Don't worry about it."

"No, Bella. You and Edward have never been this close before. And to be honest, it's scaring me."

"You think it's scaring you?" I asked with a small smile. "'Cause it's scaring the fuck out of me. I'm completely terrified."

"Then walk away."

"That scares me even more."

Alice went silent after that and Edward jumped off the scaffold. He walked behind us and I suddenly felt a hand beating at my back.

"What's on me?" I asked Edward.

"Dirt. From when you fell," he told me as he continued to beat the dirt off the back of my shirt.

"Damn, I wish I could've seen it!" Rosalie exclaimed in frustration.

"I did," Edward told her. "And it was the most graceful thing I've ever seen."

I smiled as Alice eyed the both of us.


	2. The One With My Love

When I walked into my fifth period Spanish class, Collin ran up to me.

"Bella, Edward talked to me for the first time this morning!"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot you have a class with him."

"Yeah, first period. But that's beside the point. The point is that we've known each other since the sixth grade and he's just now talking to me? The first time we have a class together since he saw you and me talking? In deep conversation? About _him_?"

"He doesn't know what we were talking about. I told him we were talking about James and he bought it. But you're right. He's never spoken to you before today?"

"Nope. And that was the next time he saw me after he saw us talking together. And now all of a sudden he wants to be all friendly with me? No. He was talking to me because of _you_."

"Oh my God, I think you're right…"

Could Collin be right? I mean, I know for a fact that Edward saw me in a deep discussion with Collin on Friday night. And what's _really _funny is that Collin is _exactly _like Eric and Edward isn't _nice_ to Eric. So for Edward to actually be nice to Collin is eerie. He doesn't treat Collin like he treats Eric. He treats them like polar opposites. The difference? Edward hasn't ever seen me talk to Eric like I do Collin. Hell, I don't talk to Eric at all, if I can help it. So the only thing that makes sense is that Edward was getting all friendly with Collin so that he could get even friendlier to me.

I didn't know if the theory was valid, but regardless, it scared the hell out of me. We've been going in circles for the past six months and I'm getting weaker by the day. What is going on here?

"Do you like Tanya?" Edward asked me on the way home that night.

"Yeah, I like her just fine. Why?"

"She said that every time she looked at you, you'd give her a mean look."

"Actually, that look was for _you_."

"Why?"

"Because, Edward, you did it again. You said you were gonna stop talking to her and then you go and do it again the very next time you see her. You're only hurting her and yourself."

"I don't think you understand," he said calmly. "I don't think you understand just how hard it is to stop. This isn't a drug addiction. It's not alcohol or cocaine or weed-"

"It's Tanya."

"Exactly."

"But don't you realize that the longer you keep this up, the harder it's gonna be for you to let go. It's gonna make it harder on both of you."

"It's gonna make it harder on all three of us."

"Jane?"

"Yes."

I sighed. "Look, I'm not judging you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. And, believe me, I do understand."

We pulled in my driveway.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Bella."

"Bye."

And things didn't get better the next day in class. He ignored me the entire time. He didn't look at me, talk to me… it was like I was invisible. But luckily, everything blew over and patched itself up by rehearsal that night.

We all got together as a crew and decided how to arrange the set and get everything organized to where we can make deck shifts more efficiently.

"… and the stairs will go here and the office scene with slide over here and then we can pull the pillars out more easily and we can do it without a traffic jam and it'll be so _awesome_!" Edward said in one breath. I could see the tears of inspiration forming in his eyes.

"Orgasmic, even," Collin said. He had been watching Edward's excitement the whole time. Edward about had an orgasm himself just from hearing Collin say that.

"Dude… I love you! I am taking you to lunch tomorrow!"

I didn't really know what to think of that…

I spent most of my time sitting on the pouf and mulling over the events that had taken place over the last few days. I had a lot to think about. Edward had been flirting endlessly and grabbing my waist every chance he got. When he walked past me, I looked me in the eyes.

"What's wrong with you, girl? Smile."

_That _made me smile. But it didn't keep me from having to explain why I looked pissed off half the time.

"You should see my mom's dad," I told him. "If you saw him watch TV, you'd think he was-"

"Trying to kill it with his eyes."

"Exactly! But I'm trying to get rid of look altogether."

"Good luck with that."

I rolled my eyes.

"So what are you gonna do tomorrow?" he asked. "Tomorrow's Wednesday."

Oh, yeah. What would be easiest on you?"

"It would be easiest on me if I just took you home at five and then went to church. I'm gonna be stuck there 'til, like, eleven helping Jane with some sort of Family and Consumer Science project. I don't think your parents will like me very much if I keep you out that late."

"Okay, then we can do that. So we definitely have rehearsal tomorrow even though it's Early Release?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then."

"Oh, and by the way, I have to take Collin to Chik-Fil-A tomorrow for lunch."

"Okay… is this going to affect _me_?"

"No… just letting you know… if I disappear… that's where I'll be."

We pulled up my driveway.

"Okay, well, see ya."

"See ya."

Okay, seriously, why did he feel the need to tell me that? Since when does he think that I need to know his whereabouts? Last I checked, I wasn't his wife. And also, how could him taking me home at five possibly be easier than me just finding another ride?

I went straight to the theatre after school let out. It was one in the afternoon and rehearsal wasn't gonna start for three more hours. I texted Rosalie a few times, but she kept falling asleep on me. So I spent all my time in the House with my journal and my iPod. After about two and a half hours passed, Collin appeared on the stage with a petrified look on his face. _Oh, Edward must have taken him to lunch…_ Then Edward appeared behind him shortly after.

"You ready to go home?" he asked.

I slowly closed my journal. "Umm… sure. Why? What happened to rehearsal?"

"Apparently, we don't have it today. It's just the cast; no crew."

I got up and followed Edward to the classroom to get my stuff. I followed him and Emmett out to the Volvo. It was raining.

"Front or back?" Emmett asked me.

"Is he taking you home?"

"Yeah. I think he's dropping me off first, though, I think."

"Okay, then I'll get in the back."

And I did. I climbed into the backseat and waited as we drove miles in the opposite direction of my house to get to Emmett's.

"Dude, so what happened to your car?" Edward asked him.

"I fucked up the transmission too bad to fix. But I'll have a new ride tomorrow."

"Renting?"

"Nah… borrowing my brother's."

I rolled my eyes and plugged in my iPod. After what felt like forever, we finally arrived at Emmett's house. Emmett and Edward both got out and went inside and I got out to get in the passenger's seat. After a minute, Edward came back out and we headed for my house.

"So what's up in your life?" he asked me after awhile.

"What do you mean?"

"What's new in your life?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything. You never tell me what's going on in your life."

"You already know about Jack. He's the newest thing in my life right now."

"How long have you guys been together?"

"What do you mean? Together or in a relationship?"

"Both."

"Well, we've been together since January seventh and we've been in a relationship since February twelfth."

"So you've got about two months so far… nice. How come I didn't find out about him until… a month after you guys got together?"

"I don't know…"

"Were you keeping it some big secret from me or something?"

"Hey, don't start thinking you're so special. I kept it from everyone."

"No, you didn't. Alice told me about, so she knew."

"She found out only days before you."

"Regardless. So what's the relationship like for you?"

"Use your imagination."

"Okay," Edward sighed, "I have to ask… do you even like this guy?"

"Of course I do!" I said defensively.

"Really? Do you?"

"Why the hell are you asking me this?"

"Because I don't think you do."

"What the fuck gives you that idea?"

"Why was he kept a secret until after… you know…"

"The worst night of my fucking life?"

Edward was quiet. And rightfully so…

"And for your information, _Edward_, my keeping Jack Dessler a secret had nothing to do with you!"

"Then why?"

"Because I was afraid that, when I first met him, he might turn out to be like James!"

Edward hesitated. "What?"

"That's right! I was afraid that might end up being a fucking rapist like the last son of a bitch I let near me!"

"Bella, what happened that night? _Exactly_?"

"Don't get your panties in a twist. I wasn't raped if that's what you're thinking. But I found out really quick that that's the kind of guy he is. If I was more passive, he would've gotten what he wanted."

"Did you not tell anyone?"

"Edward, there is nothing to tell! Nothing happened! But what _did_ happen, all four parents know about it and it's been taken care of!"

"Then why were you on the verge of tears that night because of that son of a bitch?!"

Great. I had to keep the lie going. "All he was doing was contacting the house. That's it. That was taken care of a little while ago. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Fine. I still don't believe you like him."

"Then you're stupid. I like him very much, Edward. Don't tell me that that bothers you?"

"I just think you're doing yourself a disservice by being with a guy who clearly likes you a lot, but you don't feel the same way. It's not fair to you or him."

"Don't you dare tell me how I feel! You know absolutely nothing about our relationship! And you don't know the first thing about my feelings! So don't sit there and tell me that I'm not doing right by my boyfriend! And don't even get me started on how hypocritical you're being right now!"

"I'm just telling you what it looks like."

"Well, nothing's ever as it seems."

"Just tell me the truth, okay?"

"What?"

"Do you really like this guy?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you trust him?"

"Of course I do."

"More than me?"

There was no way I could lie my way out of this one. "Edward…"

"Just tell me the truth."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I really want to know. Just tell me."

I was silent.

"Well, do you?"

"I trust you, Edward. I trust you with my life. But…"

"But what? Do you trust him more than me or not?"

"No."

"No, you don't trust him more than me?"

"I trust you equally. But I've known you so much longer, so my trust in you is a little more… solid."

"I knew it," Edward said, grinning. "You trust me more."

That tore it. His ego needed some bruising.

"Be that as it may… I love Jack more."

Edward kept his eyes straight ahead. And I felt that knife run through my chest again. I hated telling him that I didn't love him. It was a lie. But the truth was not only that I loved Edward, but I didn't love Jack. At least, not yet. I really did like him a lot. That part was actually true. And another truth was that I couldn't wait to fall in love with him, too. It seemed weird, being hopelessly in love with my best friend and being in a serious relationship with another guy who I also could potentially fall in love with. _Oh my God, what is _wrong _with me?_

We pulled up my driveway. Edward was still looking straight ahead.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Edward," I said shortly.

"Yeah. See ya."

I opened the car door and got out just as I heard him whisper, "Liar."

I hesitated momentarily with the door in my hand. I looked down for a second before shutting the door and walking away.


	3. Light Switches and Broken Knuckles

After I finished painting props with Alice in class on Thursday, I decided to find Edward. I fully intended to behave myself after the tense conversation from the day before. He had really gotten to me by saying what he said and asking me those questions. And I didn't like how big his ego was getting. It was beginning to piss me off.

I found Edward on a ladder onstage, fixing one of the stage lights. He looked very focused.

"Need any help?" I asked.

"No," he answered irritably, "not really."

"Okay, then I guess I'll just leave…"

He sighed. "You don't have to."

So I decided to stick around. Edward, however, made no effort to make conversation. He didn't even look at me, so I eventually migrated elsewhere. After half an hour of wandering around in the lobby, I went back to the classroom to find Edward at Mr. Banner's desk and Alice staring at him, a look of shock on her face. I went up to her.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, glancing over at Edward.

"He just called me a retard!"

"What the fuck is his problem? He bit my head off earlier, too."

"I don't know, but he seems to be in a pretty shitty mood."

I decided that Edward needed to be handled in a way other than the way he was treating everyone else. I decided to try to cheer him up instead of biting him back.

"Why don't _you_ smile?" I asked him, smiling.

"If you felt as shitty as I did, you wouldn't smile either!" he shot back.

I turned to Alice, who shrugged her shoulders. I didn't press him anymore. So I sat down with Alice and she opened her lunchbox. She pulled out her sushi and put one in her mouth. She moaned in pleasure. I smiled at her as Edward walked by us. He stopped to give Alice a hateful look.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he said harshly before returning to Mr. Banner's desk. That tore it. I stared after him, a hateful look of my own etched across my face. I waited for Edward to look up from his phone, on which he was texting Jane. When he finally did, I shook my head and went out to the House.

APOV

I watched as Bella walked away in anger. Edward stared after her in confusion, frustration, and irritation. He turned back to me and spoke.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked a little more gently.

"Well, you were being an asshole."

"So she's mad because _I'm_ mad?"

"Well… yeah."

"She needs to stop worrying about me all the time. It's getting creepy."

That tore it.

"Whatever," I said as I followed Bella to the House.

BPOV

Alice soon followed me and sat down next to me.

"He asked what was wrong with you," she said, laughing shortly.

"Yeah, 'cause he totally wouldn't know," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"I told him that it was because he was being an asshole and then he went off on me about how you need to stop worrying about him all the time and that it's getting creepy."

"Creepy, huh? Well, you know what? The douche bag can suck my dick!"

Alice sighed as I got up and stomped back to the classroom. Edward had disappeared, but I had no problem waiting for the boy. Alice kept glancing at me worriedly, afraid of what I was gonna do. When Edward returned, I kept quiet until he said something.

"Want some?" he asked me, holding up a soda.

"What?" I shot back. "You're actually gonna be nice to me now?"

"I wasn't aware that I was being mean."

"Well, ya know what?" I said, gathering my things. "I wasn't aware that I was being creepy! But guess what, Edward, I don't have to give a damn! I can stop caring in a second!"

"Okay…" he said, unphased.

My blood began to boil. "Oh my God, I hate you. You are such an asshole and I hate you so much!"

I left the classroom for good this time, rushing off to the bathroom where I began to sob. I was so angry at him. How could he just stand there and not give a damn about the shit he says to me?

APOV

After the final bell rang, I met Quil, Embry, Tanya, Collin, and Edward at the Volvo. I had asked Bella if she wanted to get dinner with us before rehearsal, but she declined. I don't blame her. Once everyone piled in, we head for Taco Bell. While I stood in line, I texted Bella to find out what she wanted. Nothing. Then Edward appeared at my side.

"Has she chilled out yet? Is she happy now? 'Cause I don't wanna drive her home if she's gonna bitch at me."

I sighed. "Yes, Edward, she's happy… for now. But you were really mean to her."

"Well, what does she want me to do? I hope she doesn't expect me to apologize..."

I rolled my eyes. "No, Edward, she doesn't expect you to apologize."

"Good. 'Cause I won't. God, why does she take everything I say or do so personally?"

"You have to understand something about Bella. She had very big emotions. When she's happy, she's _really_ happy. And when she's sad, she's _really_ sad. And you make her pretty mad sometimes. Especially when you called her creepy. That really hurt her feelings."

"Well, I'm a little drugged up right now. I didn't know what I was saying."

"Still… the best thing you can do right now is just give her her time and she won't be mad at you anymore. Just give her some time to chill. She'll get over it."

"I know. She's just like a light switch. Up, down, up, down…"

My eyes widened. _Oh no, you didn't…_

BPOV

"He called me a _what_?!"

"Bella, please calm down. If you don't, he's not gonna be a very pleasant chauffeur tonight."

"That's the last thing he is! I am not a light switch!" I took a deep breath. "You know what, it's funny how he said that about Tanya the night they broke up. You would think that after two 'light switches', he'd realize that it's not the girls that need to change. It's him."

"Still. Just remember that you like him. And he likes you-"

"Okay, stop right there. He does not like me."

"How many times are we gonna have to argue about this?"

"I don't know. Until he says something, I guess… which he won't! Because he doesn't!"

"Then why does he do all the things he does? Why did he invite you to the movies, on top of everything else? There has to be something there or else he wouldn't treat you the way he does. Even when he's being a dick to you, he always comes back and makes you smile. Even if it's not much, there is _something_."

"Regardless… he needs to get over himself. Did you at least find out what he's got stuck up his ass?"

"No."

Just then, I spotted Edward in the work area just as he bent over and let out a horrible-sounding cough. _Oh my…_

I tapped Alice on the shoulder and pointed to Edward as he started hacking again. She grimaced. "I think I know why he's in such a bad mood."

"I know," I said, "he's sick as a dog."

Alice stifled a giggle.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, hitting her arm. "It's not funny! Poor thing…"

"Oh my God, you're too soft."

"No, I have a heart. It's not the same thing… especially if I don't show it."

"Okay, well, rehearsal's starting. I'm gonna head up to the booth. Good luck."

"You too."

I went around to the left wings and stood with Lauren Mallory. Then all of a sudden, I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye.

"Gah!" I gasped as Angela appeared at my side.

"Hey, girl!"

"What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"I'm collecting posters off the walls."

"Isn't that considered vandalism?"

"Not when it's an assigned job from the National Honors Society."

"Oh, that's true."

"So is Edward around?"

"Yeah, I guess. But he's probably with Tanya right now. You might wanna ask Jessica, though. She's the stage manager and she spends all her time over there on Tanya's side. If he's there, she would know."

"Oh… well, I'm not actually looking for him."

And as if on cue, Edward walked into the wings while texting Jane. I nodded towards him for Angela's benefit. She turned to look at him, as did Lauren and I. With all six eyes on him, Edward looked up right at me and stared into my eyes for a long time.

"How you doin'?" he asked in that Joey Tribbiani voice, smiling at me charmingly.

I couldn't help but smile, too. "Good."

He continued to smile as he nodded and looked at me for another second. Then he looked back down at his cell and resumed his texting. I glanced at Angela, who patted me on the shoulder and whispered, "Well, that's all I came here for. I just wanted to make sure things were going well. See ya."

"Okay…? Bye."

I watched as Angela left through the left cave and the opening music started. Lauren and I took a seat on the pouf and Edward followed. He pointed at me with a serious look on his face.

"We need to leave at seven. I have a meeting in Port Angeles."

I nodded and watched him walk back to Tanya's side of the stage. We missed half of our cues throughout the first act. About halfway through the second act, I could hear yelling in the classroom. I walked into the work area, a safe distance from the catastrophe happening between Jessica and Edward in the classroom. I could see Jessica's face; I had never seen her more stressed than I did right then.

"No, Edward!"

"Jess, Bella and I have got to go _now_!"

"You can't! Edward, I really need you _here_! You cannot leave!"

"Jessica, I swear to God, if you make me lose my job…"

"My final answer is no. End of discussion! Now… go back to your post."

And Jessica turned around to go back to her post. I almost went up to Edward to see what the new plan was, but he turned around first. He looked angrier than I had ever seen him. He turned to a stack of wooden doors leaning up against the wall and punched them as hard as he could. I jumped back in fear. The sound of Edward's knuckles cracking against the wood was the loudest, most piercing sound I have ever heard and for a split second, I was actually scared of him. He walked past me in a rage and sat down on the pouf. Lauren had already cleared out. I stood there for a few minutes, trying to regulate my breathing. I could feel tears of fear forming in my eyes. Normally, nothing scared me, especially violence. But _this_ violence, _Edward _violence… it was different. And it was more frightening than anything to me.

When I finally got my breathing stabilized, I walked slowly over to Edward, who was still sitting on the pouf. I sat down next to him and we sat there together, shining the light from his cell phone on his right knuckle, which was turning purple. His veins were bulging out and it looked dislocated.

"Sorry if I scared you," he said, staring at his hand.

"Don't worry about me. How are you gonna fix your hand?"

"Reposition my knuckle."

I continued to stare at it and then I glanced at the doors against the wall. There was a hole in the first and a huge dent in the one behind it. Edward had punched through a door, denting the one right behind it.

"You're gonna have to go with me to Port Angeles."

"Okay," I agreed.

After our next deck shift, I went to the bathroom. When I got back, everyone was moving a set upstage. Edward looked at me.

"Okay, Bella, new plan. Emmett's gonna take you home. I already asked him and he agreed, no matter where you live."

I nodded and went to the pouf, pulling out my phone to text Alice.

B: "did u drive yourself here?"

A: "nope not 2nite"

B: "so ur moms pickin u up?"

A: "yep"

B: "I need a ride"

A: "u got it babe"

I closed my phone and looked around for Edward. I found Emmett instead.

"Emmett, where's Edward?"

"He left already. I'm taking you home."

"Actually, I called my dad. He's coming to get me."

"Oh, okay."

I smiled and walked away. The truth was that I didn't trust Emmett at all. In fact, I hated him. But I still didn't wanna offend him by telling him that I was getting a ride from a friend instead of him. When rehearsal ended, I met up with Alice outside.

"Honey, what happened? Did he just leave you? Were you a bitch to him?"

"No, Alice, he had a meeting in Port Angeles and he had to leave without me. He asked Emmett to drive me home, but I hate him, so I asked you instead."

"Oh…"

"Alice?"

"Mmhm?"

"Do you know if Edward has anger problems?"

Alice hesitated. "Why?"

"It's the reason he had to leave. Jessica wouldn't let us leave and he got angry. I mean, epically angry. He punched a stack of doors leaning up against the wall. He put a hole through one and dented the one behind it. He pretty much broke his fuckin' hand."

"Yeah, sometimes it doesn't take much to set Edward off. This one time during our freshman year, some guy pushed me while all of us were on deck crew and Edward lost it and almost started a fight. Bella, he was out of control."

"I believe it. Alice, I was actually scared of him tonight."

"You know he'd never lay a hand on you like that…"

"Of course I do! That's not what scares me. I just don't want him hurting himself."

"It's Edward, Bella. He hurts himself sometimes. In more ways than just one. But don't worry about him."

"I know, I know. But it looked painful… seeing his hand like that." I shivered. "It makes _my_ hand hurt just to think about it."


	4. Freshmen Are SO Juvenile

As I walked to drama class, I heard the footsteps behind me.

"So why didn't you let Emmett take you home?"

"Because I don't trust him," I answered, not even looking up.

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah, I had Alice take me home. Her mom came and got us."

"Good. I'm sorry, I didn't find out about my meeting until halfway through the day yesterday."

"It's okay."

"By the way, we have a crew meeting with Miss Kay after school at four. No rehearsal."

"Alright. Thanks."

After our meeting that afternoon, Alice immediately headed out the door. She hugged me and kissed my cheek.

"Goodbye, my love. I have to drive Jessica's car home because she got sick earlier today, so I need to leave now."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bright and early!"

And she left. I joined Edward, Tanya, and the others to get our T-shirts. After we received ours, Edward and I left for home. We exited campus and turned right at the first stop sign. The car in front of us was obnoxiously slow. It traveled at ten on a forty-five and I could see Edward's knuckles whiten as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. The car became slower and slower; I leaned forward in anticipation and impatience. Then the vehicle stopped altogether. We waited for it to turn, but it didn't. In fact, it continued on, slower than before.

"Oh my God…" Edward groaned.

Just ten, my phone rang. It was Alice. I quickly turned down 95.5 and answered.

"Hello?"

"Am I pissing Edward off?" I could hear the smile of mischief in her voice.

"What?" Then I looked back up at the car in front of us and my eyes widened. "That's _you_?!"

"What's up?" Edward asked as Alice began laughing maniacally.

"That!" I said, pointing to the car. "That is Alice!"

"You're kidding…"

"Nope," I told him as I hung up the phone and the car sped away. "Tailgate her."

"We'll get her…"

We followed Alice to the red light and pulled up next to her. We rolled down our windows and she did the same, a mischievous smile on her face.

"You suck at driving!" Edward yelled, leaning over me.

Alice stuck out her tongue at him. I just sat there laughing as they yelled at each other. When the light turned green, Edward floored it onto the highway and I let out a thrilling scream.

"When do you want me ready in the morning?" I asked when we pulled into my driveway. He tapped his chin, as if in deep thought.

"What time to we have to be there?"

"Nine."

"Okay, well, I'm gonna go home, chug some cold medicine, and then hit the rack. So… I'll come back at about 9:15 tomorrow."

"Okay, then."

"Good. See ya then."

"See ya," I smiled.

I woke up the next morning to my phone going off at 8:20. I sat up, naked, in my bed and looked at the screen.

Edward.

"Hello?" I answered groggily.

"Hey," his voice responded.

"Hey."

"If I came and got in you in ten minutes, would you be ready?"

I looked down at my nude body and tangled hair. "Umm… sure."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

So I had to rush to get ready. In five minutes, I was able to brush my teeth, put on my deodorant, and put on my clothes. As I ran into the kitchen to get Edward's money, I spotted the Volvo outside. He had already backed up for a quick get-away. I cursed under my breath, my hair and make-up non-existent and I was still holding my teal blue converse.

"Bella, Edward's here!"

"I know, Dad!"

I grabbed Edward's money and ran out the door in my sock feet across my wet gravel driveway. I hopped into the passenger's seat.

"Wow, look who's runnin'," Edward chuckled.

I looked down at my sock feet. "Eww…"

"If you wanna go inside and grab some new socks, you can. We're not in a hurry."

I looked at the bottoms of my sock feet. They were just wet with only a few specks of removable dirt on them; no mud. "No, it's okay. Let's just get out of here."

Edward turned away and put the car into drive. I turned to him.

"Do I look like total shit today?" I asked spontaneously.

He looked at me, one eyebrow cocked, and shook his head. "Wow, you're just bluntly asking questions this morning."

I smiled and bent over to tie my shoes. We went to Starbucks in near-silence while listening to Forever Young. We were both exhausted beyond belief; I could tell that Edward hadn't chugged that cold medicine like he had said he would. When we pulled in, Edward looked at me.

"Frappucino?"

"Yes," I sighed, leaning my head back in the seat.

"What kind? Like the first one?"

"Made exactly like the first one."

"Okay, I need some cash."

Edward waited while I pulled out my wallet and handed him his cash.

"Thanks, I'll bring back you're change."

I nodded and yawned as he shut the door and went to get our frappucinos. I fell asleep while he was gone and woke up when the car door opened. He handed me my frappucino and my ten bucks. We headed over to the school to find Mr. Banner's wife parked in Edward's parking spot in the parking strip in front of Mr. Banner's truck. So we found another spot and went inside. Alice grabbed my arm and pulled me aside.

"A frappucino?"

"Yes."

"Bella, that has espresso shots in it."

"No shit."

"You'll be bouncing off the walls!"

"No, Alice, that's _you_. You're the one who can't handle caffeine. Besides, Edward told me he had mine decaffeinated."

"Whatever."

Everything was great up until our first one-through. About half an hour before rehearsal, Rosalie showed up to fulfill her role as the lead girl's costume dresser. Alice greeted her with a hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Hey, babe!" Then she turned to me. "Bella, there was something I wanted to tell you this morning, but you were with Edward and I didn't want to impose-"

"Alice, we gotta get up to the booth and charge the headsets," Quil said, pulling her along. She turned back to Rosalie.

"Rose," she said, gesturing to me, "could you…?"

Rosalie grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the classroom and into the left wings. She sat me down on the pouf and got really close to me.

"Okay, so what is it?" I asked.

"Alice told me this morning on the phone that…"

"What?"

"Bella, this is why Alice and Jasper haven't been getting along."

"I didn't know that they weren't."

"Yeah, well, you don't have second period with them, so you don't get to see the hostility."

"Okay…?"

"Over the summer, Alice had worked a double shift at the pool and she was beyond exhausted. Jasper came over and they sat on the porch swing until, like, one in the morning. Alice kept nodding off and falling asleep, and she would keep waking up to him kissing her. But then she fell asleep for a little while longer than usual and when she woke up, Jasper was feeling her up."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked, appalled.

"He was feeling up in between her legs, Bella."

"Did she say anything?!"

"The relationship lasted another four months after the fact! What do _you_ think?"

I rolled my eyes and put my head in my hands. "Oh my God…"

"Tell me about it. But you have to keep it a secret!"

"That goes without saying. Why didn't she tell us before?"

"She claims to have put it out of her mind and never remembered it until just last night. I guess she figured we should know."

"Okay," I said, getting up, "I'm suddenly a little flustered. Let's go outside."

"Okay," Rosalie answered, getting up and following me out of the wings. I immediately ran straight into Lauren Mallory.

"Oh, hey! Have you seen Tanya, by any chance?"

"No, sorry."

"Well, she appears to have fallen off the face of the earth."

"Well, that isn't good…"

"Yeah… let me know if you see her."

"Will do," I smiled and led Rosalie outside.

We walked out the door and immediately saw a girl with strawberry blonde hair sitting on the stairs. I squinted, trying to decide if it was really who I thought it was.

"Tanya?"

And Tanya turned around, tears welling up in her eyes. My face fell.

"What?" _Uh-oh…_

"Umm… Lauren's looking for you…"

"Why?"

"I don't know; I didn't ask… are you okay?"

She nodded unconvincingly and turned back around. Rosalie looked at me, confused.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"I have no idea. But I think she wants to be alone…"

Rosalie nodded and I ushered her inside. I spotted Lauren by the make-up stations.

"Lauren," I said, walking up to her, "I found Tanya outside. And she looks pretty upset."

"Oh, okay. I'll take care of it."

Lauren went outside and I headed for Jessica's post and started flipping through the script, trying to memorize the deck shifts and scene changes. After about fifteen minutes, I had almost got them down… but then Lauren came up and stood next to me. She stared out onto the stage and huffed conspicuously. I turned to her.

"Is she okay?"

"Yes," she said shortly.

"Was it about Edward?"

"No," she said harshly.

"Okay. Sorry."

Lauren waited a few moments before speaking again. She still had a sharp edge in her voice, but she was a bit more calm.

"Okay, look. I'm not trying to be a bitch or anything and I really do think that you're a nice person…"

"But…"

"Whatever crap you're saying about Tanya behind her back, you need to stop."

I blinked once, my mouth falling open. "What?"

"You need to stop talking about Tanya."

"But I'm not-"

"Don't argue with me. Just stop."

"But wait!"

"What?"

"I really, really don't know what you're talking about-"

"Don't argue with me, just don't talk about her at all."

"But I haven't!"

"That's it! Just drop it."

"No, I want to know right this second what I have said! If you can't tell me that, then your case holds no water."

"Don't worry about it. Just don't talk about her and this will all go away. But if you don't, I can promise you that things _will_ get ugly."

Lauren walked away, leaving me stunned and boiling mad. The fact that I had just been told off by a freshman was probably the least of my concerns. I was more pissed about the fact that someone must have told her that I had been gossiping, something that I hadn't been associated with since the third grade. I wasn't angry at Lauren for confronting me; she was just being a friend. In fact, I admired her for it. She lived up to her title as a best friend. And that was very impressive and I didn't take it personally, especially since I didn't do anything. What got on my nerves was that Tanya didn't come forward herself. But what made me _livid_ was that Lauren wouldn't tell me what it was that I was being accused of saying. I _hated_ it when anyone accused me of saying something that pissed someone off and they don't tell me what it was. Nothing made me angrier than that. After a few minutes of standing at Jessica's post, I went to meet up with Alice, Quil, and Rosalie. As I left the stage, I passed by Tanya and Lauren sitting in front of Edward as he worked on a set. _Great_, I thought. _Another great thing about girls. They can never keep their mouths shut._


	5. Are We Good?

During rehearsal, I sat next to Collin on the pouf. I was telling him what was going on with Tanya while trying to piece my teal blue Juke back together. The damn phone was indestructible… and yet I had destroyed it. I was so on edge, it was ridiculous.

"Collin, I just hate this. Why are freshman like this? _I _wasn't like this last year. What the fuck is her problem?"

"Well, she was crying-"

"I know! So she's really convinced that I'm talking bad about her. But I'm not."

Tears welled up in my eyes as Edward came up next to suddenly and clapped his hands in my face. My nerves being as shot as they were, I whipped around and got in Edward's face.

"You wanna go?!"

Edward just stared at me in shock, his eyes wide.

"Do you wanna go?!" I yelled again. I knew that he knew about Tanya and her beef with me. So naturally, I felt threatened even if he looked at me. But I eventually apologized. And that wasn't the only time I bit his head off. I eventually burst into tears in Collin's shoulder when Edward came back through the curtain from a deck shift.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing!" I spat.

"Don't tell me 'nothing', Bella."

"Please just leave it alone," I sighed.

"Tell me," he said in a warning voice.

"I will later. In the car, okay?"

"Okay."

Then Collin's cue came and he had to go on. I sat down on the pouf as Edward went to meet up with Tanya. I continued to sob and Lauren Mallory rushed over in a hurry.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Whatever it is, it's gonna be okay."

"No, Lauren, you don't understand. I never said anything about Tanya _ever_. And I need you to know that. I need _her_ to know that," I sobbed.

"Okay, okay," Lauren comforted. "I'll talk to her."

"Thank you."

By that time, Chelsea had approached.

"What's wrong?"

"It's okay," Lauren said.

Chelsea only nodded and hugged me.

When we got in the Volvo, I kept my mouth shut, hoping Edward wouldn't remember what I said I'd tell him. But Edward never forgets. I knew that.

"So why were you crying?"

"Okay, I don't wanna start drama or anything, but has Tanya said anything to you about me talking shit about her behind her back?"

"Yup."

"Then please enlighten me. What have I said? I would _love_ to hear this!"

"I don't know, Bella. They wouldn't tell me any more than they told you."

"You know that I'd never talk about her behind her back."

Silence.

"Right?" I asked him.

Edward sighed. "Bella, I don't know you. I don't know what you would do."

"Hello?! I was the one talking to her on Facebook when you broke up with her! That should count for something."

"Well, I'm a neutral party on this one. I'm not taking any sides. I'm not defending her and I'm not defending you. I want no part of this. _I don't care_."

"Then why are you so on edge?"

"I have a fucking right to be! I have a right to be on edge because our musical is shit and Jane has reverted back to bulimia!"

"What?"

"Yeah! And here's your apology because I just blew up at you!"

"WELL, YOU HAD A RIGHT TO BECAUSE I BLEW UP AT YOU _TWICE_!"

"OH, REALLY?! I HADN'T NOTICED!"

"YOU KNOW, YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE TO BE A DOUCHE ABOUT IT! I APOLOGIZED!"

"I KNOW AND I'M SORRY!"

"ME TOO!"

After screaming apologies at each other, we both sat back in tension and silence all the way home from that point on. Then when we got up the driveway, I knew what I had to do.

"See ya Monday," Edward muttered as he unlocked the doors.

I hesitated before speaking.

"Can you spare two minutes? That's all I need. Just two minutes to talk to you."

"Sure."

"Okay… are you okay?"

"No."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No."

I paused with a sigh. "Look, I really don't wanna get out of this car if things aren't okay between you and me."

"Well, they are," he answered thoughtlessly.

I paused again. "Okay," I sighed as I got out of the Volvo. I was about to shut the door when Edward stopped me.

"Do _you _think we're not okay?"

I looked up at him. The look in his eyes was like nothing I had ever seen before. There was something there that was out of the ordinary. He was staring into my eyes… urgently. Like he needed to make sure that we were okay. I hesitated before climbing back into the Volvo and shutting the door.

"I don't know, Edward. You just seem so angry and I don't know what to do about it. You're on edge and I understand that. But I want you to know, first and foremost, that I would never say a word against Tanya. _Ever_. And… you know that I care, right?"

Edward nodded.

"Good. Because I do. I care about you very much and I'm here for you."

Edward nodded.

"If there's something wrong, like what's going on with Jane, you can tell me. No, I won't force it out of you or make you tell me, but I will listen."

Edward smiled and stared out the windshield with a small laugh. "So you're not me."

I smiled with a small laugh as well. "No, I'm not you. But that's different. The stuff you make me tell you are things that I'm gonna end up telling you anyway. I tell you everything."

Edward nodded.

"I just need you to know that I'm here for you."

Edward nodded once more. "Are we good?"

I nodded and smiled. Then I looked at him. "Come here," I said.

He moved before I did, opening his arms. "Yeah, gimme a hug…"

And I submitted myself into his open arms. I closed my eyes and embraced my place of peace. I felt so calm and peaceful there in his arms. And I felt happy as he hugged me tightly. When I pulled away, I smiled again before I got out of the car.

"I'll see you Monday," I said.

"See ya."

I smiled once more before I shut the car door and burst into tears. I wasn't crying because of Tanya or because I was tired. I was crying because, while I was in Edward's arms, I almost told him that I love him.


	6. Love Bites and Castration

I was standing right there on Monday night next to Rosalie when he did it. He raised his hands into the shape of a heart to her and then came over to wrap his arm around her shoulders from behind.

"Love you, Rosalie," he said.

I died a little inside, but I said nothing. He came up behind me and acted like he was going to, but then he was, like, "No," and pulled away from me. It hurt a little. But then he immediately laughed it off and put his left arm across my chest, shoulder to shoulder, from behind me. He pulled me into him and said, "Bella, you know I love you."

My heart soared.

"Love you, too," I said, smiling to myself.

For the entire night, it was like I could smell Edward everywhere around me. I could taste the Aero 87 and the scent of his car in the air, which was intoxicating. During the finale of the show, Edward looked me dead in the eyes while we stood in the wings.

"I feel naked right now," he said.

"What?"

"I feel naked."

"Well, I promise you you're not."

"Oh, yeah?"

And I knew that I shouldn't look back. I had known it was a bad idea before I did it. But I did. And when I turned around, Edward had his pants around his knees and was standing there in his striped, light-blue boxers. I gasped and turned back around, embarrassed out of my mind. It really wasn't that bad, but knowing Edward, it could've been so much worse. And that point was proven when he got my attention again and I turned around to see his hand sticking out through the front opening of his boxers. He grabbed my arm with that hand and I jumped back, not grossed out, but aware that it was inappropriate… for that time and place, at least.

When Miss Kay freed the deck crew, Edward and I walked outside together to leave. As I followed him out the door, I ran into his back as he stopped abruptly. I peered around his shoulder to see Tanya standing there, her back to us, rigid as a board. The sight wasn't a good one and I became a little worried. I could tell that Edward was, too. He moved to her side with Lauren on the other. Tanya remained still, only moving to shake her head when Edward and Lauren took turns asking her what hurt. I stayed out of the way.

Then finally, Edward asked her if he could have a hug before he left. He opened his arms to her and she stood there for a moment before submitting herself into him. He didn't let go for a really long time. I couldn't see her face, but I could see his. His eyes were closed and he buried his face in her shoulder. It pained him to see her that way. I could see it. And that's when I knew. He could never love me the way he loved her. Or as much. It didn't matter what he said. Yes, he had told me he loved me, but I knew better. Yes, I believed he really did, but not like he did Tanya. No one could measure up. Not even Jane.

I kept quiet as they let go and Edward led me to the Volvo.

"Don't ask me what that was about because I have no idea," he said as we climbed in.

"I didn't think you did."

We rode in silence. Then as we came to my road, both of our phones went off at the same time. We answered simultaneously.

"Bella?" Alice voice rang out.

"Yeah?"

"Tanya just had a panic attack."

"What?"

"Yes. After you and Edward left, she came inside and just freaked out. She was sobbing uncontrollably. Did something happen out there?"

"No," I answered simply, not wanting Edward to know what I was talking about, even though he was having a conversation of his own.

"Are you still in the car with him?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll call you when you get home."

"Okay. Love you, bye."

"Love you, bye."

I closed my orange enV and glanced over at Edward, who seemed to be listening intently to the person on the other line. When he hung up, he sighed heavily. I just waited patiently.

"Tanya had a panic attack," he said.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's good."

The next night, it was our final dress rehearsal, so the deck crew had to wear their… coveralls. We were gonna look like mechanics in those dark blue jumpsuits, which irritated me to no end. Edward handed me mine.

"You can be naked under these," he said. "I will be."

I hesitated before taking them and heading for the bathrooms. "Okay." Whatever kept me from overheating, right?

I went into the biggest stall and took off my brown plaid over shirt. I was about to undo my jeans when the bathroom door swung open violently.

"Bella?!"

Oh my God. It was Tanya.

"Yes?"

"Don't take your clothes off!"

"But Edward said-"

"Don't listen to Edward."

"Okay," I said, opening the stall door, "I won't take off my clothes. But just out of curiosity, what would happen if I did?"

"Well, there are pockets in the coveralls that aren't really pockets. They go straight to your body. And if someone unzips one of your zippers, you're completely naked."

"Oh, no… are you saying that he would've…?"

"Yeah, I heard him tell you that and I figured you should know."

"Well… thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled.

A moment after she left, Rosalie came in with a million dollar smile on her face.

"So I'm guessing Tanya told you."

"Yes," I replied, my blood boiling.

"What are you still doing in here then?"

"Thinking of methods of murder."

"You're gonna kill him, aren't you?"

"I'm seriously thinking about it."

I led Rosalie out of the bathroom and back to the classroom. Edward saw me coming. His face fell when he saw me raise my fist before punching him as hard as I could in the arm.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"Don't you ever tell me that I can get naked under the coveralls 'cause I went into that bathroom and I almost did!"

Edward blinked once in either confusion or disbelief, then he burst into laughter and started telling anyone who would listen what he had gotten me to _almost_ do. I continued to give him looks all the way up until the cast warm-ups. When I saw him walking toward me, I glared at him and he smiled at me.

"I love you, Bella."

"I love you, too."

"Let's get naked."

I smiled, rolled my eyes, and turned around. The entire dress rehearsal was just like the rest. We missed cues and everything. I eventually lost my cool and approached Emmett.

"Emmett, I think you need to reign Edward in. We keep missing cues because he isn't ever around to give them to us. He _cannot_ do this during the show."

"I know what you're thinking, but I promise you that he's really focused during a show. He won't let us down."

"Okay…" I said warily.

Just as we finished, Edward came into view with his phone in hand. He seemed distressed and bothered. I walked past him to where Lauren was sitting on a piece of scenery. She had the first-aid kit out and was treating a bloody toe. Her toenail was split. I sat down next to her and watched her, secretly hoping she would at least get a little nauseous just to make me feel like less of a wimp.

Edward walked by, took one look at the situation, and began to pick at me.

"I remember when _you _did that," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

"Your toe started bleeding and then you were like…" and then he began to imitate a girl fainting dramatically.

"Hey! You're lucky I didn't pass out!"

Then he laughed and walked away. Throughout the rest of the night, he continued with that look of distress. I was curious, but I didn't question him. His anxiety really showed on the way home, though. He had never driven this fast before. He was quiet and focused. I wasn't afraid for my safety or anything, but I was afraid for him. He didn't seem right. He was constantly checking his cell phone and sweating. It was like he was nervous or something.

"I bet you're wondering why I'm driving like a fuckin' maniac right now."

"A little, yeah."

"Do you know about my biting fetish?"

"No," I lied.

"Well, I bite the fuck out of people. And Jane's mom found one of the bruises I left on her."

"And that's bad?"

"Bad enough for her parents to wanna drag Jane to my house and have a little chat with me and my parents at ten at night. Now I'm a dead man. I mean, my dad knew about it.'

"But he never said anything?"

"Nope, but I can pretty much guarantee that he'll bitch me out when I get home."

"So…?"

"So when I get home, she and her parents are gonna be there. In other words, I'm about to get castrated."

"Oh…"

"Well, see ya tomorrow!" he said cheerfully as he pulled up my driveway. "Hate to kick you out like that, but…"

"Hey, you'll be okay," I assured him.

"No, I won't! Close the door!"

"Okay, geez!" And I shut the door. Damn, he was really worried. Luckily, a couple of hours later, he was on Facebook.

_B: "so wats the sentence?"_

_ E: "we cant see each other or talk or text for a week. Theyre taking her to another church on Sunday and when we're allowed to text again our texts will be monitored"_

_ B: "ouch"_

_ E: "ya"_

_ B: "hey but atleast ur balls are still attached to ur body"_

_ E: "ya close call I guess"_

_ B: "ok well night"_

_ E: "night"_


	7. Opening Night

During our crew meeting after school on Wednesday, I listened to several things: Miss Kay going on and on about how important the musical was to her, Mr. Banner listing the things we needed to correct, Jessica spaz out about her lack of "chill" or Prozac, Edward's coughing and hacking that had started last Thursday, Tanya and Lauren's giggling, and the tapping of Emmett's pen. I was so ready to get out.

And that's why I was so relieved when Miss Kay and Mr. Banner finally freed us. It was pouring outside, so Edward couldn't speed like we wanted to or else we'd hydroplane. I was beginning to feel a little icky and by the time we were halfway home, I started a coughing fit of my own. Edward didn't say a word. He just whipped out a cough drop and two Comtrex pills, handing them to me. I took them without question.

"Those are just cold medicine, in case you were wondering." I guess he figured I'd be skeptical since I didn't accept his "drugs" a week and a half ago.

"Thanks," I said.

And before I knew it, it was the day of opening night. I felt like shit, Edward felt like shit, and it was early release. That meant that I had four hours of nothing to do. So I took my iPod and my journal and went to the House. I sat down in the very back row in the very center and fell asleep. I woke a couple of times to vaguely see Edward hanging signs above the proscenium with Emmett. I worried about him coming up and messing with me while I was half-unconscious, but after awhile, I was too tired to care. At around 4:30, I walked into the classroom to see about a tenth of the cast, Jessica, and Edward sitting and eating in front of the screen, watching Chicago.

"Look!" Edward said cheerfully. "She woke up!"

"Where were you?" Jessica asked.

"House."

"Are you okay?" Edward asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Why don't you go lay down in the booth?" he suggested.

"Nah. That requires climbing stairs. I'm not really up for it."

So instead of watching Chicago, I cracked open my journal and began to write. Mostly about Edward. I was too disoriented to know if anyone was behind me. Then suddenly, something appeared out of the corner of my eye, a face right next to mine.

"You want pizza?" Edward's voice asked me.

And then I don't know what happened. I jumped up and threw my journal across the floor in a panic, freaking out over Edward's sudden appearance. Edward and Emmett and Jessica and Embry all stared at me, probably thinking that I was crazy. But Emmett had an amused smile spread across his happy-ass face.

"Wow, spaz much?" Edward said, backing up.

"She must've been writing something personal," Emmett grinned.

"You know," I said, getting up, "maybe laying down in the booth is a good idea."

I quickly gathered up my journal and brought it with me, not even daring to look back. But I didn't go to the booth. I hid my journal behind a bookshelf and climbed the ladder to the catwalk, a place I had never been before. It was amazing when I got up there. You could see just how big the theatre really was. It was _huge_. I felt like I could do anything up there. And I was actually able to think clearly while thirty feet in the air.

After awhile, I figured it was safe to go back. More actors had piled in, but that didn't keep Edward from seeing me. He sat there at one of the tables. He looked me in the eyes and smiled mischievously. It was like he wanted me to think that he knew something. But I knew better. If he really knew anything, he wouldn't dare let it slip.

After we pulled on our coveralls, Jessica came around carrying these ugly-ass hats that were apparently mandatory for the show. We looked like those boys that rich people hired to clean their chimneys. Lauren, Chelsea, and I all had to wear our hair up in buns and then stuff them into the hats. We looked retarded. Tanya didn't have to wear the hat _or_ the coveralls because she was only in charge of opening and closing the mid-stage traveler. She never had to go on stage.

The play started with the opening song and choreography from the lead and the ensemble and, of course, Edward was nowhere to be found. Lauren and I sank into the pouf, twirling our hats, already depressed, thinking that the whole show was gonna blow. But after the whole cast was onstage and the wings had been cleared out, a figure moved in front of us in one o\"f the dorky hats and coveralls.

"We got this! We're gonna own this!" Edward cheered at us, which immediately brought my spirits up.

Lauren and I cheered in return and Edward walked over to Jessica's post. Lauren tapped me.

"I didn't recognize him with the hat on."

"I know. At first, I thought he was Embry."

"I know," she swooned, "then when I saw that it was Edward… what a disappointment."

"Not for me," I said under my breath.

Then before I knew it, Edward was sitting on the pouf next to me.

"You're boyfriend's singing," he told me.

"What?" I said, half-expecting Jack to be standing there when I turned around. But it was Collin. I turned back to Edward. "He is _not_ my boyfriend."

"Is he a guy?"

"Yes."

"Is he your friend?"

I sighed. "Yes."

"Then he's your boyfriend."

I decided not to argue with him. Within the boundaries of _that_ logic, that would make Edward himself my boyfriend as well. Instead, I just stared into his eyes as he did mine. After a moment, he leaned into me and rested the bill of his hat against my nose. As he did this, I felt an overpowering peace and calmness wash over me, consuming me entirely. I bet that's what Edward was trying to do: calm me down and numb my nerves because I was obviously nervous about the show. I loved moments like these, when we could be this close. I was in my happy place. Edward lifted his head to look into my eyes once more.

"Where's your hat?" he asked.

"Right here," I said, lifting my hat from my lap.

He took my hat and replaced it with the one from his head.

"What do you want me to do with this one?"

"Wear it. Your hair will fit inside it better."

I tried it out and huffed. "I swear, I hate it when you're right."

"I'm always right."

I lifted my eyebrows at him. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I'm right about everything."

"Like what?"

"Well, I was right about the make-out thing, I was right about you liking me, and lots of other random things. I just don't journal it like you do."

I rolled my eyes and smiled.

The show went extremely well. We didn't miss a single cue… except one. I ended up having to push the doors off by myself, which didn't go as well as it would have if Edward had been there to help me. But at least he had a fair reason other than "I was sucking face with my illegitimate girlfriend". He was lowering the chandelier. But other than that, we rocked it! It was awesome!

And when we got to my house that night, Edward unlocked the doors and turned to me.

"I can't believe your parents trust me to drive you around everyday when they haven't even met me."

"Yeah, but they've been on me about that. They keep asking me when I'm gonna bring you in so that they can meet you. I'm just like, 'I don't know…'"

"Well, I'd just tell them, 'Welcome to the World of Drama. Nothing but fags and full of ridiculousness."

I smiled in short reminiscence before opening the door.

"See ya tomorrow."

"See ya."


	8. Broken Bridges

When I got to drama, I gathered out on the stage with Rosalie, Edward, Eric, and the gay guys. Edward was working on the stage lights on the ladder and the rest of us gathered around.

"So Bella, why don't you take your clothes off under your coveralls?"

"Oh my God, Rosalie, _shut up_."

Edward decided to take this opportunity to climb down the ladder and tell his famous tale.

"I told her to get naked under her coveralls and she did."

"_Almost_!" I corrected. "I _almost _did!"

"You left. You were actually on your way to go strip."

"Yeah, but at least Tanya was nice enough to come in there after me and tell me you were lying."

"Aw, Bella," Eric cooed. "_I_ would've come and saved you."

"Yeah, right. You _so_ would've come running into the girls' bathroom and started banging on my stall door."

Then Edward decided to jump to his next famous story.

"Dude, yesterday, she was writing in her journal and I came up behind her to ask her if she wanted pizza. I don't know what happened, but that journal hit the ground and she was freaking out."

"_Shut up_!"

"I know, man!" Eric chimed in. "I was in Spanish after school and her journal was just sitting there. I opened it and read, like, three words, and she completely bitched me out."

"I swear, Eric," Edward said, shaking his head, "she slaps _you_ more than any other guy I know."

"I know! I don't get it!"

"Well," I said, "when you take two 2-liter bottles, stick them under your shirt, point them at me, and ask me if you look cold, you're asking for it."

Edward immediately started laughing his ass off. "Dude, I remember that!"

"I know! She freakin' _slapped _me!"

Then Edward looked at me. "Aw, man. We used to pick on you all the time about that."

"I know! You guys did nothing but tease me about my boobs."

"Well, now I'm getting you're journal!" And Eric made a run for the classroom. I chased him at full speed and managed to get to my journal before he did. I brought it back with me to keep an eye on it. Then I pointed at Edward and Eric.

"You two are the only guys I have this problem with! I can never leave this thing alone!"

"Bella," Edward said, "you _know _I won't do anything with it."

"Yeah, I know _you_ won't, but Eric will."

And then Eric snatched my journal from my hand and ran with it. I chased him and screamed at him.

"GIVE IT TO ME NOW!"

I had to repeat myself at least thirty times before I finally managed to get it away from him. When I stopped, Edward spoke up casually.

"They didn't look cold."

"What?" I asked.

"Your tits." Then he tried to imitate jiggling breasts, which pissed me off.

"_Shut up_!"

But Edward only continued to laugh.

"I'm not even wearing a real bra! This is a sports one!"

Edward turned to Eric. "I don't know about you, but I've finally figured out why girls where different bras."

"Why?" I asked, daring him to answer.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "You use the sports bras for sports and for strapping your tits back and shrinking them. The real ones are used to make 'em look bigger for more open, low-cut shirts."

I nodded in thought at his analysis. Good answer.

Just then, one of the gay guys came up behind Edward and jumped on him, making him jump. "Dude, you just scared the shit out of me!"

I smiled smugly at him. "Spaz much?"

Then Eric grabbed my journal again and I freaked. I chased him across the stage and almost caught him when he threw it to Edward, who dropped it and it fell open. I raced Edward to the journal, diving under the ladder and throwing my body over the open book.

"YES!" Rosalie yelled.

"She _dove_ under the ladder. That was _legit_," the boys murmured amongst each other.

Edward left the stage, leaving me alone with others. I was still laying on the floor when Eric came up to me.

"Bella, are you okay?"

Wordlessly, I sat straight up and whacked Eric across the face with my journal. He began wallowing in agony as I stood and brushed myself off. Then Edward came back in.

"Is she still on the ground?" he asked before looking up to see me standing and Eric on the floor in pain.

"No, but she about broke my nose on her way up…" Eric moaned.

That night, we didn't even get to our first deck shift before everything went wrong. Edward, Lauren, and I stood in the wings, getting ready to take off the pouf and the elevator. While the actors were still in mid-song, Edward began unzipping his coveralls in a sensual and joking manner. I began to do the same. All I did was unbutton the button just above the zipper. I didn't even start unzipping at all. But that didn't keep Edward from opening his mouth.

"No," he said, putting his hand up to stop me from going any further. "I don't wanna see that."

I was in complete shock. Not from him not wanting to "see that", but by the fact that he actually had the nerve to say that to me.

"Seriously?" I said, in a tone that asked, "Are you really going to say that to me?"

"Yeah, seriously. I don't want to see that."

"No, I mean _seriously_?" I stared at him. "You know what, just stop."

And I left Edward standing there with a confused look on his face. I could've sworn I head him say, "What the fuck is wrong with you?" But I didn't stop. There was nothing left to say.

I went to stand on the other side of the curtain and waited for my cue. The tears welled up in my eyes and I could barely see as I grabbed a hold of the pouf and pulled it back through the mid-stage traveler. I avoided eye contact with Edward as I pulled the pouf back to its place and sat down in its darkest corner. I avoided Collin, too. The only time I paid attention to anyone was when Chelsea found me before she went onstage for the last scene of the first act. She asked me what had happened and I told her. It wasn't until she went onstage that I finally lost it. I just started bawling. I just sobbed silently and found that I couldn't stop.

When they closed the grand drape, Chelsea came into the wings and hugged me tightly as I cried. I was still sobbing silently so that no one could hear me. I didn't want or need the attention. When she pulled away, Chelsea took my hand and pulled me backstage. She turned me around and gave me a painfully amazing shoulder massage to loosen me up. Then she turned me around to look at my face. I knew what I probably looked like. She dragged me to a make-up station and I got a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I had at least mascara-based tear tracks down my cheeks, my eyes were red and puffy, and my face was paler than usual. Chelsea took a baby wipe and cleaned off my face for me. Then she reapplied my make-up with waterproof cosmetics.

"Okay," she said. "I'm gonna get out of this dress and into my coveralls."

I nodded as she got up. I sat there for a moment before getting up myself. And when I did, Edward was standing with Lauren and Tanya. And he was staring at me. The look on his face read that he knew he had done this. I looked away from him and walked away. I went outside and stood there, crying. I still couldn't stop. He had hurt me so bad and I couldn't fix it myself.

After a few minutes, I heard the familiar footsteps walking towards the door, which was stopped so that I could get back inside. My heart sank and I just wished he would turn back around and walk away. But he didn't. The door opened and he appeared. I reluctantly turned to him.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Not now," I said, wiping away the tears.

"C'mon, what happened?"

I sighed. "Could we please not do this right now?"

"What's it about?"

"Later. On the way home."

"Is it about me?"

I closed my eyes. "We'll talk about it later."

"It's about me." He smiled smugly before walking back inside, like he was proud of himself or something. But I was too tired to get mad. All I could do was cry. Then Lauren took his place next to me against the building.

"Honey, he didn't mean it. He was just joking."

I was slightly amused at how she was speaking to me. Like she knew him better than I did. But she didn't know just how well I knew him.

"No, you don't understand. What he knows…" I trailed off. She would never understand. Then Chelsea, Tanya, and Embry trickled out. Embry pulled me into a hug and Chelsea just watched with Tanya, who knew nothing about what was going on. Lauren kept trying to comfort me. After they all left, Edward returned again.

"You wanna go to La Push with the cast and crew?" he asked.

I stared at him. I couldn't believe that he had had the audacity to ask me that. He just kept piling it on.

"I want to go home," I said.

"Okay, then I'll take you home." He paused. "Is it because of what I said? When I said, 'No, I don't wanna see that'?"

"Just don't! Don't say it again!"

"Damn, would you stop freaking out?"

"I'm sorry, but you just can't say those things to me. Ever."

"I was kidding. I didn't mean it."

"See, that's just it. You sounded so serious. You even _said_ you were serious."

"You can't take a joke to save your life."

"Yes, Edward, I can. But not about this. You sounded _so_ serious. You just can't…"

"Well, I didn't mean it, okay?"

"It's not that simple." Then I took a step closer to him and dropped my voice, my arms crossed tightly across my stomach. "You do realize that what you said to me is the number one cause of the disorder that your girlfriend is dealing with as we speak, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Then why would you do this to me? How could you say something like that?"

"I really didn't mean it."

I shook my head in defeat, seeing as how he would never understand, and walked past him into the classroom. I sat back down on the pouf in my small, dark corner and cried some more. After the first scene of the second act, Edward came up to me, Lauren, and Chelsea on the pouf and he started hugging on them. He looked at me as I did him.

"Now do you get my humor?" he asked, smiling in attempt to get me to do the same.

I put on a small smile and shook my head. "No. I don't."

Then he came forward toward me, like he was aiming to hug me, but Chelsea cut him off and pulled him back discreetly. I was debating on whether or not Tanya had had her do that.

Throughout the second act, I couldn't contain myself any better than I could through the first. The tears came in a constant flow and I could do nothing to stop them. It felt like this huge hole had been punched through my chest. I didn't want to feel anymore. Just looking at him reverted my mind back to what he had said. And it was slowly killing me inside. And as I made rounds, water breaks, and tried desperately to focus on the play, I caught Edward's eye several times.

He was watching me. He was keeping an eye on me. He knew. He knew that he had really hurt me. I wouldn't talk to anyone. I flew solo. And the whole time, Edward could see me. I didn't expect him to apologize or feel any remorse for what he had said. After all, he had once told me that he didn't care if what he says hurts anyone. So I had no expectations. And yet, every time he looked at me, I could tell he was sorry. He looked pained. The look on his face was of true remorse and agony. He was of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and that made me cry harder. I just wanted to suffer alone. I wanted to be left alone to deal with my feelings and try to heal myself on my own.

I wasn't angry with him, but what he said stabbed me right in the chest. I really didn't want him to feel as bad as he looked. I just wanted it to remain _my_ problem and for him to move on. After I had temporarily stopped crying, Edward put on a happy face for me and gave me looks and gestures, trying to make me smile. I did my best to help him obtain his goal, but I couldn't even fake it. I was destroyed.

After the show, I met up with Angela backstage with my tearstained face.

"Show me where he is. I'll kill him."

Then Jessica appeared with her phone in hand.

"Are you talking about Edward?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, what did he tell you?" I asked.

"He told about the coverall thing and that he's really sorry about it. And I think he means it, Bella. He seemed really upset that he hurt your feelings."

I couldn't think. It wasn't like Edward to go around telling people his guilts and faults. The Edward thing to do would've been to leave it alone and not tell anyone; act like he did nothing wrong. But that wasn't the case here. He was actually owning up. And not just to me, but to our peers. That wasn't like him. That's when I knew just how remorseful he truly was.

We left with Emmett in tow. I really hoped that Edward wasn't expecting further discussion on the matter at hand because I had no intention of discussing it with a witness in the backseat. I stayed quiet, I sat still, and I stared out the window as I cried. When we were halfway to my house, Edward spoke.

"Okay, I have a question for you."

"What?" Emmett asked.

"Not you. Her."

"Yes?" I said softly.

"What are your parents doing tomorrow?"

"Ben has a soccer game." I paused. "Why? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that your parents probably couldn't bring you to school tomorrow."

"No."

"Okay, well, I have to get fitted for a tuxedo until two. I'll come and get you at 2:45."

"Okay…" I said as we pulled up my driveway.

I started to get my stuff together before opening the door.

"Hey," Edward said. I turned to look at him. "If I said anything to offend you, I'm sorry."

I just wanted it to all go away. "I'm fine. Just forget it."


	9. Forgive and Forget

It was just after 3:30 and I was almost asleep on the couch when my phone went off under my hand. It was Edward.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"Hey."

"I'll be there at around 4:45."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

Great. So he was already an hour late and it was gonna take him another hour on top of that. Miss Kay wouldn't like this…

At 4:15, my phone vibrated again. And again, it was Edward.

"Hello?"

"Hey, if I showed up in about five minutes, would you be ready?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll see you in a minute."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

I was still shutting windows when he pulled up. It was so warm outside and the sun was out. I could tell it was gonna be a great day. Edward's windows were rolled down and he was in short-sleeves, as was I. He spent the whole ride talking about his sleepover with Emmett and his brother, Anthony. The things he told me were freakin' hilarious and he kept me laughing the whole time. Then when we got to the theatre, I stuck with Alice and Quil until Edward called my name. I turned around and he was holding up a black tuxedo with a lime green suit. He was gonna be advertising for a local tuxedo shop, so he had to wear the tux during intermission, which he looked HOT in!

Speaking of which, it got extremely sultry backstage and I ended up unzipping my coveralls and just wore them sitting on my hips. I was in a tight, black tank top and my hair was in a messy, or "sexy", bun. After intermission, I sat at Jessica's post when I heard the cave door open. I knew it was Edward, but what really gave it away was that, while I was sitting there, he grabbed my waist. I turned around, pretending to be caught off-guard, and it _was_ Edward.

This was definitely a new thing for me. I had never shown my shoulders around Edward _ever_. I was always in short-sleeved shirts, if anything. I never wore a tank top in front of him. But I did that night. And his actions changed. Edward was accustomed to always just tapping me on the arm with the back of his hand to get my attention. But while I was standing around in my tank top, he would place his entire hand on my bare shoulder and prolonging the touch. Needless to say, it felt good.

I knew it was gonna be my last ride in that beautiful silver Volvo, so on the way home, I decided to make the most of it. I let out one last thrilling scream of pleasure and took everything in. The feel of the seats, the lights on the dash, and that familiar, intoxicating scent. By the time we got to my house, I was ready to get out for the final time.

"Is there any way your parents can get you to school tomorrow?"

I knew this was coming. "Yeah, they're gonna have to. We don't get out of church until 12:30."

"That's when I get out and I'm coming from one county over southbound, so…"

"Well, I'm coming from two counties over northbound, so…"

Edward laughed. "Okay, great."

"Yeah…"

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya."

Then I went inside and straight to the dining room to watch Edward drive away one last time.

I got to school around 1:30 the next day. Edward arrived about fifteen minutes after I did. As I was hauling some heavy-ass benches from one wing to the other, I overheard Edward talking to Miss Kay about leaving thirty minutes early to go somewhere. That ruled out tonight. Edward stopped to help me and as he set down the last bench, he looked up at me.

"Okay, I've got a question for you."

"Okay?"

"Are your parents coming to see the show today?"

"My mom is, yes."

"So she could take you home?"

I smiled in understanding. "Yes."

"Thank God!" he exclaimed in relief. "It's just that I have to leave early to go to Seattle."

And the show sucked balls. Edward left before intermission to change into his tux too early and left me to push the damn doors off the stage by myself. To make a long story short, there is now a two and a half foot hole in the mid-stage traveler.

About halfway through the second act, Edward called my name and beckoned me for me to come to him. I did. He took off his headset and placed it on my head.

"You're the deck manager for tonight," he said.

"Aw, shit…"

"No, it's okay. You don't have to do much. Just listen for Jessica to give cues, tell the bitch 'thank you', and you'll be fine."

I nodded.

"Just don't forget the light post."

"Okay."

Then he went to retrieve his tuxedo from the cave and I pulled my coveralls back on. A couple of minutes later, Edward walked back through the cave door, came up next to me, and put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him.

"Are you good?" he asked me, clearly sensing my nervousness.

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'm out."

"Bye."

And luckily, there were no mishaps after he left. I guess Edward knew what he was doing when he gave me his headset. It was funny how he had more faith in me than I did.


	10. Pushing the Limits

I went the whole next week without Edward. It wasn't too painful, but it aggravated me to no end that I didn't have much to look forward to anymore. But then I realized that, since the musical was over, I could spend more time with someone I was desperately craving.

Jack.

That Friday, he picked me up from the theatre after school and we sped off and just drove until it got dark. We even got lost a few times. But neither of us cared. We just needed to find somewhere to be alone. It was something we both craved. By the time it was pitch black outside, I had texted Renee and told her that I was at Alice's house studying, so we had no one in our way. We parked in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

And then we couldn't contain ourselves.

Jack grabbed me and kissed me passionately, so hard that I knew that my lips might very well never look the same again. But I didn't care. I needed him. His kissing became more urgent and before I knew, it the passenger's seat had been leaned back and Jack was on top of me. I had no intention of stopping whatsoever. There had been no talking at all since he texted me telling me that he was gonna pick me up from school. There was nothing else to say.

Jack began trailing kisses down my jaw to my neck. He hadn't shaved in a few days, so I felt the prickling of the scruff on his face on my neck, which made every hair on my body stand up. He lingered there for a little while before I felt a sharp pain in my neck. He was biting me. He was biting the fuck out of me. The pain shot through me and, even though it hurt like hell, I couldn't get enough of it. I latched onto Jack, sinking my nails into back. This made him bite harder. So I sank deeper. We went on like this until we both couldn't bear it.

I laid back against the seat and Jack rested his head on my chest. After a moment, he lifted his head and sat back in the driver's seat. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Bella…" he said lowly. "I should have probably warned you a long time ago, but I'm going to push your limits."

"I know," I whispered.

He cupped my cheek in his hand. "And you have to stop me when I can't stop myself. I won't be able to stop every single time. So you have to help me. Okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

"That's my girl." He leaned in and kissed me again. When he pulled away again, he looked at me intently. "The play was good, by the way."

"You came?"

"On two different nights, actually. The first one wasn't that great, so I came back the next." He seemed to grimace as he spoke. Then my stomach flip-flopped. Which night did he come?

"Which nights?"

"Friday night and Saturday night."

I looked at him like he was admitting to a deep dark secret. This wasn't good. "Did you…?"

"Yes, Bella. I saw you after the show the first night. And I overheard what happened. Everyone was talking about it. And I wanted to kill him."

"He didn't mean it."

"Does that really matter?"

"Please… not you too."

"I'm not trying to upset you. But I do know everything."

I hesitated, my face growing hot. "Do _you_ feel that way about me?"

"Fuck, no, Bella. I just told you that I'm gonna push your limits. What does that mean to you?"

I smiled. Then we stared at each other for a long time. Jack slowly reached over and undid the top button of my shirt. I debated on whether or not to stop him. So I gently took his hand and rested it on my thigh before wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him with everything in me. This was right where I belonged.


	11. Ravishing

I didn't get to see Edward again until Monday of the following week. An eight-day withdrawal. Fuck my life. It was finally March 29th, six months since I fell for him. And it turned out to be a happy day. I was dressed in my most slimming dark jeans and a light blue button-down shirt. My hair was in natural curls and I was wearing eyeliner for the first time in months. I wore simple diamond stud earrings and my usual temple necklace. And to finish it off, knee-high black leather heeled boots. I looked damn good.

I was getting ready for us to rehearse our one-acts when I ran into Rosalie behind the curtain.

"Why are you dressed all fancy today?" she asked.

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"Whatever."

Then Edward walked onstage and approached us. He turned to me, looked me up and down once, lingered on my breasts, and rested on my face and stared into my eyes. He raised his eyebrows.

"You look ravishing today," he said cheerfully.

"Thank you," I smiled.

Then Miss Kay and Alice walked onto the stage with us.

"Could one of you ask Mr. Banner where the other desk is for Bella's one-act?"

I immediately nodded and left through the wings to get backstage. I wasn't aware that Edward was following me. I approached Mr. Banner.

"Do you have the other desk for my one-act?" I half-yelled, seeing as how Mr. Banner was almost deaf.

He cupped his ear and squinted. "Wait. Yours or Alice's?"

"Mine."

"Oh, yes…" he looked past me. "Edward, would you mind giving Bella a hand with that?" He pointed to the collapsed desk in the back of the work area.

Edward and I stepped over all the drama contraptions in out path and made our way over to the collapsed desk. He picked up the right leg.

"Could you hold this here?"

I nodded and grabbed the leg, holding it in place, as Edward retrieved a screwdriver and screws. It was just like during the musical, helping Edward fix sets and make changes to them. I tried not to watch him as he worked, but it was difficult. He looked so good. Then as he moved, it sent a wave of his familiar scent my way. I almost died right there. Then we had to pick it up and carry it to the stage together. As we positioned it, it felt like the musical. He thumbed to show me which way to move my end and everything. It was so much more than it seemed.

But I think the extensive niceness was to balance out the events of the following day…


	12. Not So Subtle Mind Games

Luckily we started rehearsing the one-act that I _didn't_ have the lead in, but that meant that _Alice_ would have to be onstage the entire time. Edward came backstage with his lemonade Capri Sun to keep me and Rosalie company. He set it down to go to the bathroom. Once he was out of sight, I turned to Rosalie.

"Did we find out if the musical won any awards?"

"No."

"We didn't find out?"

"No, I mean we didn't win any. Apparently, they judged us on our Sunday performance, the night when Embry accidently ended up onstage with his pants around his ankles, the mid-stage traveler wouldn't close, and you and your gang of wood movers put a three-foot hole in the grand drape."

"Umm," I said, taking a sip of Edward's Capri Sun, "it was the mid-stage traveler and it was actually a _two and half_ foot hole."

"Whatever. It's still a curtain and it was still a hole."

Edward returned and stood behind me. He then proceeded to screech in my ear. After jumping twelve feet in the air, I was stuck backstage with him and Rosalie. Over time, Edward started asking random girls for hugs. Every girl ended up being groped by him… except me. And after awhile, I could see that he was doing it on purpose. He started grabbing Rosalie and picking her up off the floor. I hated it when he did that.

Then Alice came back during one of Embry's scenes in the one-act and Edward started trying to wrestle her. I was grateful when he finally stopped. Alice stood at the edge of the mid-stage traveler, waiting for her cue.

"Alice," Edward whispered.

Alice looked back at him. He had his arms up, like he wanted a hug.

"What?" she asked.

I was beginning to get extremely irritated. "He wants a fucking hug! So give him one!"

Alice walked over to him and, instead of giving her a hug, he put his arm around her waist, pulled her close to him, and began _waltzing_ with her! That bastard! I began to shake with fury. After Alice's cue, we were all three alone again. But it didn't matter. Every little thing that Edward did pissed me off. He made the slightest noise, I flipped on him.

"Edward, you are making _way_ too much noise!"

"I don't care."

I flashed the greatest death glare I could, hopelessly praying that it would put the fear of God in him. No such luck.

"I see a smile behind that mad face."

Fuck. I knew it was coming even before he finished the sentence. And sure enough, I cracked a smile. Unwillingly, but surely.

"I knew it," he said, emotionless. That pissed me off royally.

Then Edward took Rosalie's phone and began to text on it. After taking a few deep breaths to douse my anger, Edward didn't hesitate to fuel me up again.

"Isn't it funny how easily she freaks out?" he asked, turning to Rosalie.

"I do not freak out!" I almost screamed at him, my temper rising at the speed of light.

"Just listen to yourself!" he said.

"This is _not_ freaking out. You have seen me get mad and you have seen me cry, but you've _never_ seen me freak out."

"Whatever," he said, turning his attention back to his texting frenzy. But I couldn't stop. He had fueled the fire.

"You know, I used to never cry. But lately, I cry a lot. And whaddya know? It's _your _fault."

Edward said nothing.

I turned to Rosalie. "See? He doesn't even give a shit."

Then Edward looked up to present the phone in his hand, grinning. "Oh, I'm texting Jane."

I almost came unhinged. I don't think he had ever made me as genuinely angry as he had managed to at that moment. I balled up my fists and they trembled with more fury. I was seeing red. I took some more deep breaths and, after a few minutes, I calmed down again. I let it out and turned back to Edward and Rosalie. I spoke in a quieted, dignified tone.

"Okay… I'm good. I am not mad."

Edward scoffed. "Give me thirty seconds."

"What?" I challenged daringly. "What are you gonna do?"

Instead of answering me right away, he stared into my eyes for a long time before looking back down at Rosalie's cell. "No, I'm not gonna say that."

_Oh shit. What? What was he thinking?_ "Why not?"

"I don't need you getting mad and crying and running off."

"I see it coming. I won't get mad or cry or run away. Just say it."

He didn't.

"Okay, fine," I said. "Whatever. I don't care." I turned around to try to solidify my declaration.

"Too bad you're not gonna let it go," Rosalie muttered.

Edward's head shot straight up. "I know, right? She's gonna go crazy today." He looked me dead in the eyes. "You won't forget about it. You'll be thinking about it, trying to figure it out. But you won't, and it's gonna eat at you all day."

Then I snapped. "WHY, EDWARD? WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS TO ME?"

"'Cause I'm good at it! And it's fun!" And then he left the stage. The bell rang and I was still standing in the wings, shaking with immeasurable rage. But I couldn't take time to calm down or else I'd be late for class. So I took my rage and stomped into the classroom to retrieve my things with the most angered look ever. Edward was just walking out the door as I appeared. He turned around and flashed me the most charming smile before he disappeared. When I saw that, I didn't even try to stop myself from smiling.

That night, I got on Facebook and was immediately cornered by Edward on chat.

_E: "I love my life haha"_

_ B: "why?"_

_ E: "making you mad"_

_ B: "its like you live for it"_

_ "why?"_

_ E: "its fun. I wasn't rly goin to say n e thing and it made you mad n e way"_

_ B: "I doubt that. You always have an opinion. And you make me look like an idiot for freaking out all the time"_

_ E: "yup"_

_ B: "your so mean to me"_

_ E: "yup"_

_ B: "is that another code for 'I don't care'?"_

_ E: "yup. Your catching on"_

_ B: "yay me."_

_ E: "haha well I gtg l8r"_

_ B: "night"_

And right as I was signing off, my phone went off. It was Rosalie.

"Hello?"

"Hey, girl. I would've texted you, but I think this deserved some vocalization."

"What is it?"

"Our nerd friend, Edward, is a bit dumber than we thought."

"How?"

"Pretty boy forgot to delete his texts off my phone."

"Oh shit…"

"Oh shit is right. For him. And I have to say, these are the cheesiest lines I've ever heard _ever_."

"What do they say?"

"Okay, first Edward was all like 'hey baby' like usual and then Jane was like, 'can I ask you a question?' and he was like, 'sure, ask me anything'."

"Here we go…"

"And so then Jane asked…" she paused to chuckle. "she asked, 'do you still get lost in my eyes?'"

I let out the loudest laugh I had ever laughed and Rosalie stopped to do the same. I almost started hyperventilating. But we had to keep going, even though we were laughing like hyenas.

"Okay, then he answered with, 'Yes, but I try not to because then I get all lonely'."

We were _dying_.

"Then she was like, "well, what do you mean?' and he said, 'when I get lost in your eyes, I feel lonely'."

And then we were _dead_. That was, by far, the greatest thing I had ever listened to.


	13. Bathroom Bonding

Rosalie, Alice, and I went to the girls' bathroom to watch Rosalie curl her hair. Edward had gone to the school store to buy us all drinks, so we were waiting for him. I left to go get my phone just as Edward was walking back in with Embry. At that point, I forgot what I had gone in there for. He tossed me my Mountain Dew and he asked me where Rosalie was.

"Bathroom," I told him.

"Walk with me," he said.

I followed him to the smaller lobby where the bathrooms were and he stood at the door of the girls' bathroom.

"Who all's in there?" he asked.

"It's just Alice and Rosalie doing her hair. No one else."

And on that note, Edward kicked the door open and waltzed right in. He grabbed Rosalie's phone and started texting Jane. The first words out of his mouth were horrifying.

"Emmett wants to fuck Rosalie."

"Lies," she said in monotone.

"No, really. He does."

"Nasty."

"He's very open about who he wants to fuck and stuff like that."

"Kind of like _you_?" Alice asked smugly.

"Kind of. But I hide a lot more."

"Lies."

Edward turned to me. "Don't I hold back a lot?"

The memories of all the secrets that were told in that Volvo came rushing back to me. And I began nodding. "Yes, you do."

But I didn't want to dig all that unpleasantness back up, so I quickly changed the subject by turning to Alice. "I don't really know what I'm gonna do this Spring Break."

"Get naked," Edward said.

"Yes, actually, that's exactly what my first thought was." Lie.

"Are you serious?" Edward asked, astonished.

"Yes."

"Holy shit. That just put you higher up on the rankings."

"I'm glad," I said, internally cursing myself.

Then Edward pulled a can of snuff from his pocket. This pissed me off royally, but I had to work hard not to let it show.

"Give _me_ some!" Rosalie exclaimed.

"Rosalie, don't you dare. I would beat the shit out of you," I said.

"You only wish."

"No, actually, she could probably kick your ass," Edward said.

_That's right, bitch…_

**A/N: Pure fluff, I know. But don't fret. We're getting closer and closer. At this point, I have no idea what you guys think because I'm getting almost no reviews. I'm not about to hold chapters hostage, but I really do want to know what you guys think ****.**


	14. Fire Face

After Spring Break, I dreaded going back to school. In fact, I dreaded going back to drama. I had fallen asleep outside two days before while tanning and… well, you can imagine. I met up with Rosalie on the steps outside the building and she burst into violent laughter. I huffed and got her to cover me as I followed her into the classroom. She was doing well up until she tripped on her own sandal and fell down. Edward glanced over several times, but not at Rosalie. At me. I sighed and set my stuff down as Edward walked up to me. He was trying not to laugh.

"What did you _do_?" he asked.

"I fell asleep outside."

Just then Alice walked in as I was applying aloe to my cheeks. She looked at me like she was watching a beluga whale give birth.

"What _is_ that?"

"Aloe."

"Why are you putting it on your face?" Rosalie inquired.

"Because my face burns really bad."

Rosalie began blowing in my face.

"_That_ should feel good," Alice said.

"It will after she gets _that_ stuff on," Edward said, gesturing to the aloe.

"I know."

"I have something that will _really_ make it feel good." And Edward walked away to retrieve a half-frozen Capri Sun from his backpack. He came back and held it carefully against my bright red forehead. Then Alice decided that she needed assistance going to the bathroom, so they left me and Edward alone.

"So what did _you_ do?"

"Well, I went to my see my grandparents and got tan, unlike _you_," he teased as he showed off his browned skin. "And I know I didn't ask you, but you so shoulda been with me. I took a car at 200."

"200?" Just the thought of it thrilled me.

"Yeah, dude, when I stopped, I was shaking so bad, it was ridiculous."

Then he meandered away to the guys, leaving me with a cue to run away to the bathrooms where I found Alice and Rosalie playing with each other's hair.

"Are you guys done already?" Rosalie asked in shock.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's get out of here. We spend way too much time in here.

Rosalie huffed as Alice led us out. Edward was standing there with Rosalie's phone, waiting for us. He reached his hand out at me like he was going to touch my chest. But I moved away. Edward laughed and turned back to the phone.

The next day at drama started the same as the day before… except this time I was tan instead of burned. As I walked by Edward, who had been staring at me since I walked in, he smiled.

"You're face looks much better today."

"Thanks," I smiled back.

"That was a quick change over one day: red to brown."

"I know."

"Did you have to use a lot of make-up?"

"Nope."

"Really?" he asked in surprise.

"Really."

"I broke my knuckle again yesterday."

"How?" Rosalie shot in, immediately interested.

I punched my headboard.

I could hear the interrogation rising in her voice. I wished she wouldn't push him. Hell, he had anger problems. When he gets angry, he gets violent. I had seen it. So I pulled Rosalie away to the stage, Edward following, and we rehearsed my one-act. After the rehearsal, I found Rosalie and Edward trying to steamroll each other on the floor. Alice looked up at me and shook her head. I rolled my eyes as I picked both of them up off the floor. The bell was about to ring, so we went back to the classroom to get our stuff. Edward walked up to where Rosalie and I were standing.

"Can you guys get any dirt off my back?" he asked.

Rose and I did as we were told, even though there was barely anything on him. I mainly just wanted to feel helpful to him.

"Is there really all that much?" he inquired as we kept brushing at him.

"Oh yeah, totally," Rosalie said sarcastically. "You're covered."

Edward rolled his eyes.

"I'm just kidding!" she told him. "There's nothing."

"Yes, there is," I said, not wanting to be conspicuous.

Then the bell rang. Edward started towards the door. "Yeah, Bella just likes to touch my body."

_You hit the nail right on the head…_ "Oh, please. You are so full of yourself."

"I know."

I walked outside with him. "I'm gonna push you down the stairs in a minute…" I warned.

"You think I care?"

"Oh, well, I guess you wouldn't since you'd be unconscious."

"Not really. I live through shit like that."

"Of _course_ you do," I patronized, following him.

"Knowing me, I could get in a wreck with three other cars, everyone else would die, and I'd walk away."

"Well, that sounds like _so_ much fun."

"I've never tried it."

"I would definitely hope not."

"But I've considered it."

I felt my heart stop. I couldn't even_ imagine_… "Why would you even _consider_ it?"

"Have you ever walked in my shoes?"

"No…"

"I didn't think so."

"But that doesn't stop you from telling me why."

"Yes, it does."

And he walked away from me. I was in shock. I couldn't believe he had ever… the thought couldn't even cross my mind without making me want to vomit. At lunch, I didn't even have to tell Alice what he said before she approached me first.

"Bella, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I sighed.

She turned to me, leaned over, and cupped her chin in her hands as she stared at me intently.

"I'm getting a negative mental image from you," she said. "You were walking behind him and he was looking away. Then you found out something about him that you didn't know before."

I turned to her. "It's like you were there…"


	15. That TEASE!

I waited in line at Miss Kay's desk the next week for my homeroom pass. As I stood there, Edward appeared. Miss Kay gave us both passes and I walked out with him.

"Why do _you_ need a pass?" I asked him.

"I'm gonna hang out in the wings while you're doing your thing," he said.

I noticed that he looked a little upset, like he was trying to hide it. It made sense. When I got home the day before, I got on Facebook to see a precious, little change in Edward's relationship status as the first thing on my news feed. I did a little research to find out what had happened. I went to Jane's page and checked her wall. Two things stuck out like sore thumbs. One was the fact that she had changed her relationship status and Edward had _liked_ it, and the other was that she had a very odd status.

"Dear God, thank you for answering my prayer. It was good to hear from you so clearly."

No smiley face. That was the biggest clue. Whatever answer she got obviously wasn't a preferred answer. And the correlation between that status and when Edward changed his relationship status was a 24-hour time difference. No coincidence there. There was no doubt in my mind that Jane had used her spiritual beliefs to help her decide whether or not to break up with Edward.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I hesitated and he started to walk away.

"What happened with Jane?" I asked.

He sighed. "I honestly don't know."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," he said.

Then the homeroom bell rang and we both left to turn in our passes before returning again. Rosalie, Alice, Edward, and I all met up in the classroom for rehearsal. He grabbed Rose and Alice into one-armed hugs, leaving me out. But then I felt like the special one when he pulled me into a full hug, one-on-one. Then he pulled away quicker than I expected with a disgusted look on his face.

"Ugh," he said, "I just got a mouthful of your hair."

I remembered the excessive amounts of hairspray I had to use to hold my curls for the one-act, which was to be rehearsed tonight. "Oh, sorry. I bet it tastes bad today."

The next day, Edward came up to me and the girls with an ugly, splotchy, red rash all over him.

"What the fuck happened to you?" I asked.

"Mono," he said.

My breath hitched in my throat and, as if on cue, Edward turned to me. "I know you've drunk after me in the last month and a half. You probably have it."

"Fuck my life…"

But luckily, I never did catch mono from him. Before I knew it, I was down to four weeks left of school. It was Monday. I had babysat overnight for the Webers on Saturday night and got a really good taste of teen parenting. And it definitely wasn't for me. 1-year-old Sunny had kept me up all night. Needless to say, I was exhausted.

And it only got worse when Miss Kay came in brandishing her video recorder and our tapes on which were our one-acts. I groaned inwardly and crossed my eyes. I turned to Alice.

"This is going to be a fucking disaster."

Just then, I felt a hand gently squeeze my shoulder several times. No question who that was… then Edward grabbed a hammer off of Mr. Banner's desk and headed back for the work area. But not before he stopped behind me, bent down next to me, and said lowly, "You know, a _lot_ of good actors think they suck when they don't."

Then he walked away. I bit my lip and watched him walk away. I knew that he knew what he was doing to me when he did stuff like that.

In fact, the entire week went well in ways just like that one. On Tuesday, Edward and Emmett and some other guys were all spray-painting sets for the musical theatre class's final show. Naturally, Alice, Rosalie, and I could walk over to the work area to find Edward and Emmett holding paint cans with watery eyes, laughing hysterically like two little girls. I knew it was unnecessary to ask, but I did anyway.

"Are you high?"

He grinned at me. "A little."

"What are you doing?" I was beginning to feel a little lit myself…

Edward didn't answer me verbally. He just sprayed paint into the cap of the can, held it to his nose, and inhaled. He then approached a gay guy and gave him the biggest hug I had ever seen. Then he turned to me and Alice, and I willingly gave into him, thereby receiving my fourteenth hug, leaving me only one hug away from my goal for the year.

I didn't have drama on Wednesday, so on Thursday, I was immediately ushered into the House with about five hundred other kindergartners from the elementary school. We were forced to watch the play with them. It took a lot longer than I'd hoped. But afterward, we all went back to the classroom and started talking. We talked about how Alice had broken up with Quil and how he had been very dramatic about the whole ordeal, and then I suddenly felt a pair of hands grab and squeeze my shoulders repeatedly before letting go. I could even feel knees and legs behind me, against my back. Of course, I turned to see Edward.

Then Rosalie thought it would be fun to start playing with her waterproof mascara. She took her brush and wiped it on Edward's arm. Naturally, he wiped it off his arm and put it on my cheek. So after messing my hair, he decided to leave and then come back and play it off like he had gone to the dressing rooms and got more mascara. He touched my cheek again. I thought he had made it worse, but Alice and Rose told me later that he didn't have any mascara. All he did was touch me.

That afternoon, I got on Facebook and was immediately swallowed by chat.

_E: "Hows your mascara haha"_

_ B: "it wont come off"_

_ E: "haha sucks 4 u"_

_ B: "ya ya laugh it up. It's all your fault"_

_ E: "I know but I enjoy it haha"_

_ B: "ya you better. But the years almost over. No more mascara for you :P"_

_ E: "ima bring some tomorrow and cover you in it"_

_ B: "and where do you expect to get it?"_

_ E: "my stepmom duhhhhhhh"_

_ B: "oh she has some?"_

_ E: "duh shes a woman"_

_ B: "if its waterproof you will regret it. This one was"_

_ E: "I got it off of me"_

_ B: "it was still wet"_

_ E: "no it wasn't I got it all off in 5__th__"_

_ B: "was so! It wont come off of me! You cursed it"_

_ E: "I know haha. Well I'll let you be. L8r"_

At this point, I realized that Edward Cullen had been nothing but nice to me all fucking week, which was strange. I sure as hell wasn't complaining, but still. I put this out of my mind and uploaded some photos in my "World of Drama" album on Facebook. I was uploading some pictures that I had taken with Jessica and with Rosalie and her mascara. But I didn't have a single one of Edward. My goal was to get one.

Which brought me to Friday.

I came to the drama building brandishing two large bags of Sun chips. Peppercorn Ranch and Garden Salsa. I plopped in a chair next to Rosalie and Alice with the Garden Salsa. I could see Edward out of the corner of my eye behind us. Rosalie ripped the Garden Salsa out of my hands as Edward pulled up a chair next to me. I just shrugged and reached for the Peppercorn Ranch. Then Edward stood up and tapped me on the arm.

"Hey, I need to in y'all's pictures," he said.

"You wanna be in the pictures?" I assumed he was referring to all the pictures I had been taking during class and uploading on Facebook. And I was right.

He nodded.

"Okay, you wanna go out in the lobby and take pictures?"

"Yeah." He looked at Alice and Rosalie. "Hey, let's go to the lobby."

The girls and I began taking our time gathering chips and such. But then Edward began rushing us out. It was as if he was _eager_ to get these photos taken. Unfortunately, Miss Kay ambushed us before we even had a chance to sit down. So we ended up back in the classroom anyway. I started showing Alice photos I had taken of me and Jessica.

"Is that the one that made it look like Jessica actually _has_ a rack?"

I nodded. _What the hell…?_

"Yeah, I was looking at that last night," he said.

I exchanged a very discreet glance with Alice, whose eyes widened the slightest bit. I knew exactly what she was thinking. I never published new photos onto the main news feeds or my wall _ever_ on Facebook. So if anyone was to see any of the photos, it would be by going to my page and actually searching through my photos. I would've never expected that from Edward. Especially after all that's happened.

I was starting to piece it all together. I had tagged Rosalie and Alice in several photos and both of them are also friends with him. So they may have shown up on his news feed because of _that_ fact, but regardless, he would've had to have actually gone through the entire World of Drama album to see that picture with me and Jessica because he and Jessica aren't friends on Facebook. And he probably noticed that he's not in a single photo. That explained everything. And I was able to piece this all together in a matter of milliseconds.

So I eluded the topic of the photo album when Rosalie suddenly threw her phone at me, hitting me in the upper thigh, which was bruised.

"Ow! Damn it, Rosalie!"

"What?"

"You hit my bruise!"

"You have a bruise?"

"Yes!"

"Where is it?" Edward asked in sudden interest.

I touched the bruise on my thigh.

"It's probably from me," he said.

"You're probably right."

So I lifted my camera to take a picture of him. He lifted his hand up to block it. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What the hell? I thought you wanted to be in the pictures?"

He didn't answer. He just continued to be a pain in my ass with his light switch disposition. He flipped me off several times too. Then he called me a bitch, which I hated more than _anything_. It didn't take long for him to start really pissing me off. Alice managed to get a really good one of him at one point, but he never cooperated with me. I eventually gave up, which triggered Edward's immediate rushed cooperation just as the bell was ringing. The picture ended up blurry with Edward and Rosalie's heads together and me looking like the fucking third wheel.

So I got on Facebook in a huff, in absolutely no hurry to upload any of the photos with Edward in them. Then chat popped up.

_E: "Wat r u thinkin about right now"_

_ B: "why?"_

_ E: "answer it"_

_ B: "my dog… ok that was the worst lie. But why?"_

_ E: tell me the truth"_

_ B: "jack" _Lie.

_ E: "idk who that is"_

_ B: "you know who it is"_

_ E: "no sry"_

_ B: "ive told u about 5o times that hes my bf"_

_ E: "oh right"_

_ B: "so why did you ask?"_

_ E: "jw"_

_ B: "theres no such thing"_

_ E: "ya there is"_

_ B: "no theres not"_

_ E: "ok"_

_ B: "so wat r YOU thinkin about?"_

_ *Your message was not sent because Edward is offline*_

But that was nothing compared to Saturday night when I had Angela over. I was 75% asleep on my bed while Angela was still up playing on my Facebook. I was almost completely under when she started shaking my foot violently.

"Bella, Edward's chatting you."

I immediately shot out of bed, now fully awake. "Give it here!"

Angela handed over my laptop and I looked at it.

_E: "r u ready for the random question of the day"_

_ B: "ok…"_

_ E: "r u horny"_

_ "haha good luck w that one"_

_ B: "well I wasn't until you said that. _I was aware that I was playing with fire.

_ E: "ok?"_

_ B: "don't give me that"_

_ E: "u dirty girl give u wat"_

_ B: "that 'ok' crap"_

_ E: "ok so ur horny. Wat r u thinkin about now that u r and fyi this can get rly awkward if you choose to continue"_

_ B: "oh please it was already awkward"_

_ E: "I know but its gonna get rly deep haha no pun intended"_

_ B: "well now im thinkin about the usual crap: strawberries and whipped cream haha"_

_ E: "oh ok w who"_

_ B: "jack duhhhhhhh"_

_ "or Taylor Lautner haha" _**(A/N: I couldn't resist)**

_ E: "or me"_

_ B: _WTF? _"now why would you think that"_

_ E: "idk I can just tell"_

_ B: "you only wish you can"_

_ E: "I can. And lying will only get you in trouble"_

_ B: "how"_

_ E: "when it all rly cums out, everyones like wtf"_

_ B: "well im not letting anything come out. Theres nothing to let out"_

_ E: "ok"_

_ B: "so what about you?"_

_ E: "I don't have to answer haha"_

_ B: "you made me answer it"_

_ E: "I know haha night"_

_ B: "night"_

THAT _TEASE_!


	16. Pay Day

I was sitting across from Edward the following Tuesday.

"… so now I have key marks all over the hood my car."

"How many exes ago?" I asked.

"Three. The one before Tanya."

Then Alice came storming in. She huffed and sat down across from me.

"I hate him! I hate him so much!"

"Who?" I asked.

"Jasper freaking Hale! He went around telling everyone he knows that I 'confessed my undying love for him' when I hate him so much!"

My eyes automatically shifted to Edward. He looked frustrated, angry, and bothered all at the same time. I turned back to Alice. There I was, sitting there… thinking about the past… getting pissed off all over again…

"I know, right? Don't you just hate it when they fucking do that?"

"Nothing has ever made me angrier."

"Trust me, I know the feeling."

Then Edward got up to leave. The tech class ended up having to go to the theatre while the acting class stayed behind in the classroom. We had to work on some bullshit worksheet that I completely BSed.

"Well, screw this," I said. "What are you guys doing this weekend?"

"Well," Rosalie sighed, "I don't know about this weekend, but you guys need to help me plan my birthday party."

"Okay… when is it?"

"July."

I stared at her. "Well since it's the fourth of May, we better get on it! Time is running out, girl!"

"Haha, very fucking funny. But we do need to come up with something."

Just then, Edward returned.

"Hey, Edward!" Rosalie half-shouted. "Help me plan my party!"

"Okay, get on Facebook tonight."

"Okay."

"When's your birthday?"

"July fourteenth."

Edward stared at her.

"You're gonna be seventeen, right?" I verified.

"Sixteen."

"You're fifteen?"

"Yup," she said, standing up.

"Aww, you little baby!"

Then she accidentally slammed her book-filled school bag into my bad toe. I began writhing in pain, the chilling words "you need to have that popped off" ringing in my ears. Edward and Rosalie were both laughing cruelly.

"Way to go!" Edward congratulated her, giving her a high-five.

"Thanks! Another thing to add to our records in the 'I Hate Bella' fanclub!"

"I know, right?" Then he turned to Alice. "Oh, and Alice, meet me after school and we can go take care of Jasper."

I tried my hard to ignore the victimization that I knew was being dished out at me. I walked outside with all of them with as much dignity as I could gather. We got outside and looked over the railing at where Edward's Volvo was parked in the parking strip. There were really bad key marks in the hood.

I raised my eyebrows, impressed. "Wow. She did a pretty good job."

"You're a bitch!" Edward said.

My blood began to boil. Oh, I get it. So Edward can dish out all the jokes and mean comments he wants and I'm expected to take it like a man or else I'm accused of freaking out or I "can't take a joke", but when _I_ decide to do that, I get called a bitch and then I have to shut up or be shunned? Okay, that makes a kind of sense that doesn't. And it was also the straw that broke the camel's back. Edward needed to get it through his head that I had no intention of putting up with him another minute if he wasn't going to treat me like a human being. Like he used to…

So the next day, I didn't look at Edward Cullen, I didn't speak to Edward Cullen, I didn't even breathe Edward Cullen's name. I paid attention to no one but Alice. Edward even came up behind me and screeched in my ear, but I didn't even blink. I could feel myself becoming selectively immune to him.

"She didn't jump!" Edward said, shocked. "Why didn't she jump? I mean, she seems extra happy today." He put his fingers to my chin. "Smile."

I was happy, but I didn't smile. Not having to worry about Edward was making me so much happier. But no one answered him. Instead, we all went outside with Emmett in tow and stood there, waiting for the bell to ring. I kept my eyes on the next building over. I didn't look anywhere near Edward. I had no emotion on my face. Every time Edward said or did anything, I acted as if I didn't hear or see it. Then he and Rosalie started going at it, shoving each other. Then Rosalie pushed him as hard as she could, almost pushing him off the stairs.

"You're a bitch!" he said.

"Thank you. I love it when people call me that."

"Yeah, but _she_ doesn't." I could feel his eyes on me. He came closer. "BIIIITCHHHH!"

I didn't move or say anything. I upheld my stance flawlessly.

"Oh, she's mad now…" Edward said. I guess he could see right through the façade. He knew exactly what was going on inside. I was falling apart.

"Yes. She is." Alice didn't even bother to hide the sourness in her voice.

"Are you mad?" Edward asked me.

Nothing.

"Aw, she's mad. I'm sorry. You want a hug?" He outstretched his arms to me.

I hesitated, debating on whether or not to submit to him. But I decided to let my guard down for five seconds to let him wrap his arms around me and hold me close.

And that was that. I had reached my goal for the entire year: to get fifteen hugs from Edward by the end of the year. But this did not, in any way, let him off the hook with me. I would make Edward pay for every time he had mistreated me. Every time he had called me a bitch. Everything. I was done making excuses for him. He would understand or, so help me God, I would make him.


	17. Your Name Didn't Make Me Smile Anymore

I was able to hold my own for a week. Rosalie and I walked in together and I handed her the script for our final project.

"Be sure to read through the whole scene before you decide who you want to be."

In the background, I could see Edward pull a chair up next to his. I knew everything was about to go to hell before it even started. And sure enough…

"Hey, Rosalie, come sit down." He pulled up another chair. "Bella."

I looked at Edward for the first time in seven days. I smiled at him softly, just to let him know that I didn't hate him, before I turned around and sat across from two girls in my class that I don't usually talk to. In the background I hear Edward ask, "Does she hate me?"

My heart sank. Great. So he thought I hated him. This was brilliance in the making. And I knew it because the tears were coming. I wanted to be with Edward so badly. But I knew I couldn't do that to myself. I couldn't let him hurt me anymore. I quickly pulled out my iPod and my hands shook violently as I struggled to untangle my headphones. When I finally did, I plugged in my music and turned up the volume. I could feel Edward's eyes boring into the back of my head. But then I realized which song it was. Whatcha Say. I couldn't stop myself. The tears were coming. I quickly stood up to get to the bathroom before my eyes welled up too much. And when I did, Edward was staring right at me. Brilliant.

I walked casually to the bathroom, making sure to not make a spectacle of myself. The tears were already streaming by the time I got to the double doors. But I didn't make a sound until I got to the bathrooms, where I began sobbing uncontrollably. Great. Panic attack. Fuck my life. Rosalie soon came for me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Do I look like it?"

"No. But why? Why can't you just be friends with him?"

"Because, Rosalie! He isn't good for me! I'm done waiting around for that rare occasion when it's convenient for him to be nice to me! He's made me feel like his victim ever since I found out he's been playing me!"

"And you can't forgive him like you always do?"

"That's just it, Rose! Forgiveness is nothing more or less than the act of giving one's assailant a free pass to strike again. If I forgive him, yet again, he'll think that he can hurt me, yet again, because I'll forgive him, yet again! It's a vicious circle that I don't wanna run in anymore!"

Just then, two girls came into the bathroom, giving us weird looks.

"Rose, can you go to the classroom and get my phone and my make-up bag?"

"Sure thing, babe."

Rosalie and the other girls left and I was left alone. It took her a minute or two longer than it should have for her to get back.

"Here," she said. Then she paused. "I should tell you something."

"Then tell me."

"I can't. You can't handle it."

I sighed, already having a hunch at what it might be. "Rosalie, I'm already wrecked. Just tell me before I have a bitch fit."

"Guess who was right outside the door listening to everything while you were having your tirade."

"Shit…"

I laid my forehead on the sink. This was hell. I fixed my make-up and asked Rosalie to take it and put it back for me. She left and, after ten minutes, never came back. I knew what she was doing. She was with Edward. And she was telling him everything she knew. That was why she couldn't be trusted. So I took it upon myself to go to the end of the hallway to see if I could see Rose without catching a glimpse of Edward. Instead, I saw Alice. She had just walked into the building. She saw me and immediately knew that I needed to talk to her. She came to me and I didn't even get to get out a word before Edward appeared. Rosalie had her arms wrapped around his waist, trying to pull him away from me. I already knew who was gonna win that war. So I did what I could to drag Alice to the lobby in a hurry.

"I don't know how we're gonna talk now because he's following me."

And he came through the door. Alice just stood there with a plastic smile etched on her face. I looked at her and smiled authentically.

"Hey, we'll talk at lunch!" I said cheerfully.

"Okay, bye!"

"Bye!" I waved. Then I had no choice but to look at Edward. He smiled in a friendly way and waved at me, similarly to the way I had waved to Alice. Then both of our faces gradually went solemn. Edward sighed.

"Hey, I'm not trying to be mean to you."

I gave him a small smile. "Yes. You are."

He shook his head and turned around, heading for the door.

"Look, I don't want to fight with you," I said.

He turned around. "I didn't come here to fight. I came here to see about you. I'm not as bad for you as you seem to think."

"Well, maybe you should spend a little less time standing outside of the girls' bathroom and a little more time doing some major soul searching."

"Maybe I don't want to."

"You don't know what the hell you want."

"No more than you, sweetheart."

"Don't you dare turn this on me! I'm the one who's been putting up with your shit for the past eight months!" I shouted. "I would've done anything for you and I only ever got crapped on by you!"

"Really?"

"Yes, really! You know, I did the best I could. I was there for you when you dumped Tanya for Jane and you felt guilty about it. I stood there and listened to you. I tried to comfort you and you were glued to my side all fucking class period that day! You told me you some deep shit that night after we went to the movies and I kept every single one of those secrets! I was the best friend I could be and I got nothing out of it!"

"Is that really how you feel about me and you? That you got_ nothing_ out of it? Tell me, Bella, who was the one sitting in the main lobby with you when your grandmother died? Who comforted you then? Who offered to go to that damned funeral with you?"

"One time, Edward! One damn time!"

"I'm sorry that I can't be the sentimental nancy boy that you wish I was all the time! That's not how I'm built!"

"I'm not asking you to change, Edward! I like you for as you are!" I could feel the tears coming again. "And that's more than I can say for you. I could never be good enough for you. All I wanted was for you to treat me like you do Alice or Rosalie. You never used to treat me like this. And now, all I feel is bullied and victimized."

"I don't want you to feel that way. Is that why you've been avoiding me like the plague?"

"It's not just about that! It's about the fact that I can do so much better than you. I can think of several other guy friends who can treat me better than you. Who can go longer than just a couple of days without calling me a bitch. Let's start with Seth, shall we?"

I could detect a flicker of anger in Edward's eyes.

"Oh, yes," I said, "dear Seth. A thirteen-year-old can outdo you in how to properly treat your girl friend. It almost makes me fear for your next girlfriend, but I'm sure you'll put her on a nice, shiny, gold pedestal before dumping her for the next girl in line. And all I can say is… thank you for not letting me be one of those girls."

"You really feel that way?"

I didn't answer.

"Then what happened to you?"

"I don't know. I guess after eight months of being bullied, victimized, played, and lied to… your name just didn't make me smile anymore." Another lie. But it was the one to finish the job. Edward rolled his eyes and walked out the door. I threw my phone at his head, as he left. But the door closed before it would have hit him.

I just sank down against the wall and cried through every bell for the rest of the day.


	18. Back to Square One

Over the course of the next eight days, Edward made it a valid point to be as sweet to me as he possibly could. And over time, things got back to the way they always were. Then the next Thursday, on the second to last week of school, I sat in the House with Rosalie, waiting on Alice. Then as Alice walked across the stage to where I sat, a smile flickered across her face for a millisecond before I heard a screech behind me. I jumped and turned around to see Edward leaning over the row of seats behind me, right in my face. He grinned at me and then came around to sit in the seat next to me. I sent Alice to go get my phone and my digital camera.

Edward turned to Rosalie.

"Will you do my back?" he asked.

"Ugh!" she groaned. "Why?"

"C'mon, I'm about to have a final."

"Get Bella to do it." She flashed me a mischievous smile.

I looked at Edward.

"Will you?" he asked.

I sighed, giving in yet again. "Where?"

"Everywhere."

"Okay, hold on."

I got up and went around back behind where he sat. I kneeled down behind him and got to work, massaging his shoulders. My hands shook, I was so nervous. But then, as I became more familiar with every curve of his muscles, I loosened up and was able to go lower and explore. Alice came back and saw this. She stopped dead in her tracks and gave me the most amused look. Within five minutes of this, my hands were cramped up worse than a leg cramp. But I didn't stop for anything. I massaged him like it was nobody's business. I could feel the softness of his skin through his shirt. I could feel the muscles and his collarbone. I knew he was beautiful underneath. And I couldn't stop myself from further exploring him. I moved my hands as low as the seat would allow and pushed harder.

"You're really good…" Edward said lowly as he played Tetris on my phone. Meanwhile, Alice was snapping photos on my camera. I knew I didn't have much longer, so I began taking in every detail that I could. Then finally, Edward sighed and handed me my phone.

"I have to go take the fucking final…"

I stood up as he did and walked around. He said his goodbyes to us and left. I immediately too Alice's hand and dragged her to the bathroom. I bent over the sink and breathed deeply.

"That was amazing…"

"You looked like you were having fun."

"You have no idea." I squealed like a fourteen-year-old who had just received her first kiss.

"You're excited."

"What gave you that idea?"

"The million dollar smile on your face."

I smiled again and looked at my flushed reflection in the mirror. "I can't believe he didn't like me," I said, still ecstatic.

"He did."

"You think so?"

"Hundred percent. It may not have been enough for him to actually pursue a relationship with you and make you his girlfriend, but there was definitely a crush. It's the only thing to explain why he did half of the things we could never explain while never actually asking you out."

"I think you're right."

"Of course I am."

That afternoon, I ran into Jessica and two other thespians.

"I'm jealous of your shirt," she said.

I looked down at my Hollister baby tee. "Well, when I'm too fat to fit into it in a month, you can have it."

"Oh my God, are you pregnant?"

"No."

"Did you have a little too much excitement last night at the Drama Celebration?" she inquired jokingly.

"Oh, all my excitement happened _before_ the Drama Celebration."

"Edward."

"Edward?" the other two echoed.

"No, no. _God_ no!" Lies, lies, and more lies.

"You and Edward would actually be cute together," one said.

"Yeah, you two would definitely look cute together," said the other.

"Tell _him_ that," I muttered.

"Oh, do you like him?" they guessed.

"For a long time. He played me, as a matter of fact."

"Jackass…" Jessica muttered.

I hid a smile.

The next time I saw Edward was the day of the first and second period finals. If we exempted the second one, we were allowed to leave after the first. But I ended up having to take both. When I got to the drama building before school that morning, there were five boys there. One was Edward. He was the first to look up when I walked in.

"Are you taking your second period final?" he asked.

"First _and_ second."

"Damn it. I'm only taking first. Then I get to leave."

I knew in the back of my mind that he wanted me to go somewhere with him. If I had decided to skip that fucking final, who knows what would have happened. But I didn't. I decided to savor these lasts moments with Edward because I knew they would probably be the last. And of course, they were.

I saw Edward one last time on the very last day of school. He was on the second floor to take his sixth period final. Our classrooms were back to back, so I saw him as I went up the stairs. Edward glanced up at me slightly from his phone and kept walking. No greetings. No acknowledgements. No eye contact. No goodbyes…

I turned the corner with him to see three kids loitering in the hallways. They were all from my acting class. Edward and I walked in our separate worlds that day, for the first time in a year. We acted like we were complete strangers. It didn't matter how much I wanted to turn to him and throw my arms around him. My time was up. It had been an amazing ride. And now it was time to leave that world behind. So we continued our façade. As far as everyone else was concerned, Edward and I didn't know each other.

"_Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."_


	19. AN: REVIEWS AND SEQUEL!

**I plan to spend the summer doing a sequel to this story. I have no intention of leaving a story with an ending like that, so please review and as soon as I feel that I've received adequate feedback, I will begin posting. I would love to know what you thought of this story because every single word of this is what happened to me over the last school year. This is a true story. And that's why it's so close to my heart. So please review!**

**Also, the sequel will be strictly FICTION. Nothing real. That way, you'll get to taste my creativity instead of my personal life. Hehe…**


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